THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 
OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE 


6iSS     »^ 


Warehouse,  Salesrooms,  and  Workshop  of 

Duncan  Phyfe, 
at  Nos.  168-170-172  Fulton  Street,  formerly 
Partition  Street 


FURNITURE   MASTERPIECES 
OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE 


BY 
CHARLES  OVER  CORNELIUS 

ASSISTANT   CUBATOR 

DEPARTMENT   OF   DECORATIVE   ARTS 

METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM   OF   ART 


MEASURED    DETAIL    DRAWINGS 

BY    STANLEY    J.     ROWLAND 

METROPOLITAN    MUSEUM    OF    ART 


;>  <J  0  <) 

PUBLISHED   FOR 

THE  METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  OF  ART 

BY 

DOUBLEDAY,     PAGE     &     COMPANY 

GARDEN     CITY  NEW     YORK 

1923 


COPYEIOHT,  1922,    BY 

DOUBLEDAY,   PAGE   &   COMPANY 

ALL    RIGHTS    RESERVED,    IKCLUDING    THAT    OF    TRANSLATION 

INTO  FOREIGN   LANGUAGES,   INCLUDING   THE   SCANDINAVL\N 

PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

AT 

THE  COUNTRY  LIFE  PRESS,  GARDEN  CITT,  N.  Y. 


Art 
Library 

NH 

fSCZ 

FOREWORD 

Duncan  Phyfe  is  the  only  early  American  cabinet-maker  to 
whom  a  very  large  group  of  furniture  may  be  attributed  on 
documentary  grounds.  Much  of  the  attribution  to  other 
American  cabinet-makers  is  based  upon  purely  circum- 
stantial evidence,  but  in  the  case  of  Phyfe  there  exist  docu- 
mented examples  of  practically  every  type  that  is  shown 
herewith.  The  aim,  therefore,  has  been  to  present  at  least 
all  the  general  known  types  of  furniture  from  Phyfe's  best 
period  and  as  many  variations  of  these  types  as  space  would 
permit. 

It  has  also  been  attempted  to  place  this  art-craft  of  the 
Early  Federal  Period  in  the  United  States  against  the  back- 
ground of  the  time,  thus  to  relate  the  utilitarian  art  to  the 
influences — artistic,  social,  and  economic — which  controlled 
to  a  large  degree  the  forms  which  it  took. 

The  book  has  been  a  result  of  the  assembling  of  material 
for  an  exhibition  of  the  work  of  Duncan  Phyfe  at  the  Metro- 
politan Museum  of  Art  in  New  York.  In  the  search  for 
Phyfe  furniture  there  appeared  a  larger  group  of  more 
varied  material  than  had  ever  been  supposed  to  exist. 

It  was  deemed,  therefore,  advisable  to  put  into  permanent 
form  this  record  of  Phyfe's  handiwork  as  it  is  known  to-day, 
with  no  pretense  to  an  exhaustive  treatise.  It  may  be 
affirmed  that  the  book  includes  most  of  what  is  known 
about  Phyfe  and  his  work  up  to  date,  but  the  many  sur- 
prising finds  during  the  search  for  material  to  exhibit  would 


vi  FOREWORD 

lead  any  expert  to  speak  with  some  hesitation  in  saying 
that  all  types  or  all  variations  of  types  of  Phyfe  furniture 
are  included  between  these  covers.  At  least  those  that  are 
shown  will  form  a  valuable  basis  for  future  attribution. 

The  author's  cordial  thanks  are  due  to  those  whose  pos- 
sessions are  illustrated  in  the  book.  It  is  only  their  courtesy 
which  has  made  possible  its  compilation.  To  these  the 
author's  appreciation  is  expressed:  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Warren 
B.  Ashmead,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Lewellys  F.  Barker,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Harry  H.  Benkard,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allan  B.  A.  Bradley,  Mr. 
Henry  de  Forest  Baldwin,  Mr.  Elihu  Chauncey,The  Colonial 
Dames  of  the  State  of  New  York,  Mr.  F.  Kingsbury  Curtis, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  W.  de  Forest,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Francis 
P.  Garvan,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  R.  T.  H.  Halsey,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Herbert  W.  Johnston,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  V.  Everit  Macy,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Howard  Mansfield,  Miss  Jane  Elizabeth  Martin, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Louis  Guerineau  Meyers,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry 
Wilmerding  Payne,  Mr.  I.  N.  Phelps  Stokes,  The  New  York 
Historical  Society,  The  New  York  Public  Library. 


CONTENTS 

PAGB 

Foreword .  v 

CHAPTER 

I.    The  End  of  Knickerbocker  New  York      .  1 

II.     Duncan  Phyfe  and  the  Artistic  Influences 

OF  His  Time 30 

III.  The  Distinctive  Quality  of  Duncan  Phyfe  48 

IV.  The  Furniture  :  Chairs  and  Benches    .     .  62 
V.     The  Furniture  :  Sofas 67 

VI.    The  Furniture:  Tables 72 

VII.    The  Furniture  :  Miscellaneous  Pieces     .  79 

VIII.    Conclusion 82 


vu 


LIST  OF  HALF-TONE  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Warehouse,   Salesrooms,   and   Workshop   of   Duncan 

Phyfe Frontispiece 

FACING 
PLATE  PAGE 

I.  Side  chairs  showing  Sheraton  influence.      .      .  6 

11.  Side  chairs  showing  Sheraton  influence.      .      .  6 

III.  Armchair,  mate  to  side  chair,  Plate  II  .      .      .  6 

IV.  Side  chair  with  oak-leaf  panel,  Sheraton  and 

Directoire  influences 7 

V.  Slat-back  chairs 14 

VI.  Lyre-back  chairs 14 

VII.  Armchair  of  Directoire  type,  curly  mahogany 

panels 14 

VIII.  Side  chairs  showing  Empire  influence    .      .      .15 
IX.  Armchair  showing  Empire  influence.     Part  of 

suite  with  sofa,  Plate  XVII 22 

X.  Window  bench,  without  carving      ....  22 
XI.  Window  bench  with  carved  leaf   panels  and 

acanthus  legs 22 

XII.  Sofa,  Sheraton  influence 23 

XIII.  Sofa,  Sheraton  influence 26 

XIV.  Sofa,  Sheraton  influence 27 

XV.  Sofa,  Directoire  influence 30 

XVI.  Sofa,  Directoire  and  Empire  influences ...     30 

ix 


HALF-TONE  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PLATE 

XVII. 


XVIII. 
XIX. 


XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 

XXIX. 

XXX. 

XXXI. 

XXXII. 

XXXIII. 

XXXIV. 

XXXV. 

XXXVI. 

XXXVII. 

XXXVIII. 

XXXIX. 

XL. 


Sofa  showing  Directoire  and  Empire  in- 
fluences        

Settee,  Empire  legs  and  carved  panels . 

Card  table,  Sheraton  influence.  The  corner 
blocks  are  carved  with  the  Prince  of  Wales 
feathers 

Card  table,  Sheraton  influence   . 

Game  table,  Sheraton  influence. 

Pembroke  table,  Sheraton  influence 

Drop-leaf  extension  dining-table 

Sewing  stand,  Sheraton  influence    . 

Sewing  stand.     The  silk  bag  is  missing 

Sewing  stand.     The  silk  bag  is  missing 

Console  table,  urn  pedestal 

Tip-top  candlestand   . 

Drop-leaf  table,  urn  pedestal 

Sewing  and  writing  stand 

Dining-table    .... 

Card  table  without  skirting 

Sewing  and  writing  stand 

Drop-leaf  table 

Card  table,  urn  pedestal 

Card  table  with  fluted  drum 

Side  table,  four-post  pedestal 

Drop-leaf  table,  four-post  pedestal 

Dining-table,  end  view  (below),  side  view 
(above) 

Drop-leaf  table,  end  and  side  views 


30 
31 


34 
35 
38 
38 
38 
39 
42 
43 
46 
46 
46 
47 
50 
51 
54 
54 
54 
65 
58 
59 

62 
62 


HALF-TONE   ILLUSTRATIONS  xi 

FACING 

PLATE  PAGE 

XLI.  Extension  dining-table 62 

XLII.  Sofa  table  with  end  supports      ....  63 

XLIII.  Library  table 66 

XLIV.  Sofa  table 66 

XLV.  Card  table,  crossed  lyre  pedestal     ...  66 

XL VI.  Card  table,  crossed  lyre  pedestal     ...  67 
XL VII.  Sideboard    with    veneered,    carved,    and 

reeded  decorations 70 

XLVIII.  Serving  table 70 

XLIX.  Buffet 70 

L.  Serving  table 71 

LI.  Cheval  glass 74 

LII.  Piano  case  and  trestle 75 

LIII.  High-post  bedstead 76 

LIV.  Four  types  of  bed-posts 77 

LV.  Trestle  for  a  piano 84 

LVI.  Washstand 85 


LIST  OF  LINE   DRAWINGS 


FACING 
PAGE 


A.  Details  of  sofa  arms  and  legs,  carved  panels  from 

sofas  and  from  chair-backs 48 

B.  Typical  lyres  and  chair  slats  with  a  panel  from  the 

base  of  a  dining-table 50 

C.  Four  bed-posts 52 

D.  Table  legs  and  supports  and  a  panel  from  a  table 

base 56 

E.  A  piano  trestle  and  various  designs  of  table  posts 

and  urn-shaped  supports 58 


zu 


FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 
OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE 


THE  END  OF  KNICKERBOCKER  NEW  YORK 

Knickerbocker  New  York  is  gone!  In  the  tall  canyons 
of  lower  Manhattan,  few  are  the  landmarks  which  recall  to 
us  the  little  city  whose  more  fashionable  citizens  drove  on 
bright  spring  afternoons  to  the  pleasant  country  suburb  of 
Greenwich  Village,  doubtless  relieved,  good  horsemen  as 
they  were,  that  the  hard  paving  of  Broadway  stopped  at 
City  Hall!  The  residences  of  people  of  fashion  were  then 
found  on  the  Battery,  while  of  the  highest  respectability 
were  lower  Broadway,  upper  Pearl  and  Nassau  streets. 
Broad  and  Wall.  Beyond  the  City  Hall  the  softly  rolling 
landscape  was  ribboned  with  shady  roads,  flanked  here  and 
there  either  by  charming  suburban  homes  to  which  the  city 
families  retreated  during  the  summer  heat,  or  by  tidy  farms 
whose  owners  were  blissfully  ignorant  of  eventual  realty 
values.  Surely  a  provincial  city  but,  none  the  less,  develop- 
ing more  rapidly  than  it  knew  into  a  cosmopolitan  one ! 

It  was  not  until  the  very  last  years  of  its  existence  that 
the  consciousness  of  a  Knickerbocker  New  York  was  formu- 
lated into  anything  definite.     The  Dutch  traditions  which 


2  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

had  remained  so  important  an  element  in  the  eighteenth- 
century  town  had  hung  about  the  city  without  occasioning 
any  self-conscious  attention  or  comment.  It  remained  for  a 
brilliant  little  group  of  young  writers  to  utilize  these  tradi- 
tions in  their  literary  efforts  and  thus  to  preside  in  a  two- 
fold capacity  both  as  registrars  of  an  epoch  which  was  dying 
and  as  heralds  of  a  new  era  which  was  just  begun. 

The  first  twenty-five  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  were 
marked  in  New  York  by  an  amazing  activity  which  extended 
into  all  departments  of  human  endeavour.  There  was  a  rapid 
acceleration  of  commercial  growth  which  called  forth  a 
corresponding  development  of  mechanical  invention.  A 
social  consciousness  was  evolving  from  the  compact  society 
of  a  provincial  city  into  the  beginning  of  a  cosmopolitan  at- 
titude toward  local  affairs.  Civic  improvements  of  sur- 
prising farsightedness  were  begim,  and  politics,  both  local 
and  national,  were  hotly  debated.  The  artistic  expression 
of  these  contemporary  interests  kept  equal  pace.  The 
artists  who  created  and  the  patrons  who  supported  the 
artistic  achievements  of  the  day  were  all  in  close  touch 
with  the  life  of  the  city  in  its  various  phases. 

The  result  of  this  expansion  of  interests  and  activities 
was  the  rapid  outgrowing  of  the  Knickerbocker  town  both 
literally  and  figuratively.  The  very  consciousness  of  the 
Knickerbocker  tradition,  for  the  first  time  definitely  ex- 
pressed, was  in  one  way  a  romantic  creation  to  which  was 
lent  the  glamour  of  remoteness,  and  to  which  point  was 
given  by  the  survival  up  to  date  of  many  traits  and  customs 
of  the  early  Dutch  inhabitants. 

It  was  at  the  beginning  of  this  interesting  and  important 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  3 

period  that  Duncan  Phyfe  came  to  live  and  ply  his  craft  in 
New  York.  His  early  struggles  to  find  a  foothold  coincided 
with  the  early  years  of  the  century,  while  the  continually 
increasing  recognition  of  his  sincere  craftsmanship  and  con- 
summate artistry  kept  pace  with  the  changes  in  the  city's 
life  and  thought.  His  best  work  was  done  during  this  first 
quarter  of  the  century  and  constitutes  an  important  record 
of  the  cultural  outlook  of  the  people  of  the  day.  A  brief 
glance,  therefore,  at  the  New  York  of  the  time,  the  New  York 
which  saw  the  accomplishment  of  Phyfe's  finest  work,  will 
give  a  necessary  background  against  which  to  judge  this 
utilitarian  art  which  served  its  purpose  of  contributing 
largely  to  the  creation  of  worthy  standards  of  taste  in  the 
public  of  the  time. 


By  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  last  day  of  the  year 
1799  a  sombre  throng  of  citizens  had  assembled  in  Broadway 
near  the  triangular  park  which  this  thoroughfare  formed 
with  Chatham  and  Chambers  streets.  A  muted  key  was 
set  by  the  frequent  signs  of  mourning  visible  throughout  the 
orderly  crowd  and  was  emphasized  by  the  contrast  with  the 
colours  of  the  drooping  flags,  the  brilliant  hues  of  uniforms, 
military  and  naval,  and  the  shining  insignia  of  the  foreign 
diplomats  and  their  suites,  the  philanthropic  societies,  the 
Masonic  lodges,  and  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati.  In  or- 
dered ranks  the  cortege  formed,  each  group  falling  into  its 
appointed  place — citizens,  foreigners  of  various  nations, 
representatives  of  the  army,  navy,  and  militia,  of  the  civil 
government,  paternal  and  philanthropic  societies,  mercantile 


4  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

groups,  musical  associations  and  clergy.  Near  the  end  came 
the  great  catafalque  surmounted  by  the  urn,  glittering  with 
burnished  gold,  draped  in  black,  and  flanked  by  eight  pall- 
bearers. Thus  with  pomp  and  ceremony  was  the  funeral 
of  the  great  Washington  commemorated  by  his  feUow  citi- 
zens of  the  country  which  he  more  than  any  one  man  had 
helped  to  found,  and  of  the  city  which  for  a  short  time  was 
its  capital. 

The  bier,  followed  by  the  General's  horse  caparisoned  in 
black,  and  led  by  two  negro  grooms,  passed  down  the  east 
side  of  the  Common  to  the  head  of  Beekman  Street,  thence 
through  Beekman  and  Pearl  streets  up  Wall  Street  to  the 
Federal  Hall.  It  was  here  on  the  30th  of  April,  1789,  that 
Washington  had  taken  the  oath  of  oflSce  as  first  President  of 
the  United  States,  and  in  recognition  of  this  fact  a  short 
pause  was  made  before  the  building.  FoUow^ing  Broad  and 
Beaver  streets,  it  passed  around  the  Bowling  Green  in  front 
of  the  Government  House,  which  had  been  built  in  the  ex- 
pectation that  New  York  would  be  the  capital  of  the  repub- 
lic. Through  the  double  rows  of  the  marchers  the  symbolic 
urn  was  carried  up  Broadway  and  into  St.  Paul's  Chapel, 
where  it  was  placed  before  the  altar.  Solemn  memorial 
services  were  held,  a  funeral  oration  was  delivered  by  Gou- 
vemeur  Morris,  and  musical  eulogies  were  chanted.  The 
people  dispersed  to  their  homes,  perhaps  to  discuss  the  great 
works  of  the  first  President  of  the  new  republic,  perhaps  to 
speculate  upon  the  future  of  that  republic  in  the  new  century 
which  was  just  beginning. 

The  death  of  Washington,  practically  coinciding  as  it  did 
with  the  opening  of  the  new  century,  marked  the  end  of  one 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  5 

period  in  the  country's  history  and  the  beginning  of  a  new. 
The  trying  years  of  war,  the  more  trying  years  of  the  con- 
solidation of  independence  won,  were  over.  The  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  of  America  was  organized  and 
founded  upon  a  constitution.  The  time  had  come  for  the 
new  country  to  try  its  mettle  in  competition  with  the  great 
world  without,  no  longer  as  a  colonial  possession,  but  as  an 
independent  nation  conscious  of  its  strength,  the  extent  of 
which  could  be  gauged  only  by  its  exercise. 

The  route  followed  by  the  marchers  in  the  Memorial 
Parade  may  well  be  taken  as  a  summary  outline  of  the  city 
as  it  was  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Carry- 
ing out  in  the  main  the  lines  of  growth  suggested  by  the 
old  Dutch  town,  the  lower  end  of  Manhattan  was  divided 
by  streets  which  followed  generally  the  shore  lines  of  the 
East  and  Hudson  rivers  and  were  intersected  at  irregular 
intervals  by  cross  streets  running  from  river  to  river.  The 
present  location  of  the  City  Hall,  which  was  not  yet  begun, 
marked  a  northern  limit  to  any  real  city  development. 
There,  on  the  "Common,"  stood  the  Bridewell,  the  City 
Alms  House,  and  the  Prison.  Most  of  the  country  north 
of  this  point  retained  a  purely  rural  aspect.  Within  easy 
reach  was  the  Collect  Pond  around  which  youths  and  maid- 
ens sauntered  on  Sunday  afternoons  in  summer  or  upon 
whose  frozen  surface  they  skated  in  winter.  It  was  here 
in  '96  or  '97  that  John  Fitch  had  made  his  crude  experiments 
in  steam  navigation.  Other  uptown  resorts  for  pleasure 
were  the  Old  Vauxhall  at  the  corner  of  Warren  and  Green- 
wich streets,  a  house  built  by  Sir  Peter  Warren  and  a  public 
garden  patterned  after  its  famous  London  original,  while 


6  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

various  road  houses  along  the  East  River  offered  in  their 
menus  tempting  specialties  to  the  summer  boating  expedi- 
tions and  winter  sleighing  parties  which  came  their  way.  In 
so  small  a  town  as  this  New  York  there  was  no  exclusively 
residential  section,  but  in  all  the  streets  the  residence  and  the 
shop,  the  church,  the  tavern,  and  the  market  elbowed  each 
other  without  giving  or  taking  offence.  The  finest  houses 
now  being  built  of  brick  with  slate  roofs  were  on  the  Battery 
and  in  its  immediate  neighbourhood,  lower  Broadway  and  its 
intersecting  side  streets.  Broadway  was  the  Bond  Street 
of  New  York  and  contained  many  fashionable  and  elegant 
shops.  Ah-eady  at  this  time  New  York  had  begun  to  feel 
itself  the  leading  city  of  the  eastern  seaboard.  Its  location 
immediately  rendered  it  the  most  important  port  for  Euro- 
I>ean  import  as  well  as  the  most  central  point  for  domestic 
export.  Founded  originally  as  a  trading  post — ^not  as  a 
haven  for  religious  or  political  freedom — it  was  but  natural 
that  the  commercial  aspect  of  the  city  should  always  have 
assumed  a  preponderant  place  and  that  the  marts  of  trade 
should  have  stood  cheek  by  jowl  with  the  church  and  the 
dwelling. 

English  though  the  city  had  been  since  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  the  Dutch  tradition  had  been  tena- 
cious, particularly  in  the  outlying  country  districts  in  New 
Jersey,  up  the  Hudson,  and  on  Long  Island.  In  these  dis- 
tricts the  changes  in  tradition,  in  customs  and  usage,  had 
come  slowly,  while  in  the  city  itself  a  much  more  rapid  de- 
velopment had  occurred  due  to  the  increasing  number  of  im- 
migrants from  beyond  the  borders  of  the  Low  Countries. 
England   preponderantly,   of  course,   Ireland,   Italy,   and 


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OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  7 

France  had  all  contributed  to  the  growingly  cosmopohtan 
population  of  the  town.  The  French  Revolution,  with  the 
resulting  disorganization,  led  to  a  particularly  large  influx 
of  cultivated  Frenchmen.  In  numbers  perhaps  not  greater 
than  those  of  other  nationalities  which  were  coming  at  the 
same  time,  the  conditions  in  France  were  such  that  the 
emigres  came  almost  wholly  from  the  educated  classes, 
members  of  the  lesser  nobility,  and  of  the  professional  and 
artistic  groups.  It  is  not  surprising,  in  view  of  this  fact, 
that  the  influence  of  France  and  the  civilization  for  which 
it  stood — ^intensified  by  the  memory  of  that  country's  aid  to 
America  in  her  dark  hour — should  have  liad  a  marked  in- 
fluence upon  the  city,  particularly  in  its  social  and  artistic 
life.  The  city's  social  history  of  the  period  is  marked  by  a 
gradual  change  during  twenty-five  years  from  an  English  to 
a  French  flavour  in  which  was  mingled  the  faintest  memory 
of  the  earlier  Dutch  characteristics. 

Thus  the  original  vigour  of  the  city  was  reinforced  by  fresh 
infusions  from  abroad,  in  the  repeated  additions  to  its  popu- 
lation of  residents  whose  very  presence  in  the  new  land  ar- 
gued their  possession  of  sturdy  bodies,  active  minds,  and  not 
a  little  imagination.  All  of  this  vigorous  growth  in  popula- 
tion was  paralleled  by  commercial  prosperity,  a  proportion- 
ate increase  in  public  and  private  wealth,  a  constantly 
widening  horizon  of  political  and  cultural  interests — in  short, 
the  beginnings  of  a  cosmopolitan  and  somewhat  self-con- 
scious attitude  toward  the  city  itself  and  the  world  beyond 
its  walls.  Lengthy  and  detailed  accounts  of  European 
affairs,  predominantly  the  activities  of  Napoleon,  fill  large 
portions  of  the  contemporary  newspapers,  as  do  the  notices 


8  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

of  arrival  from  and  departures  for  Europe  of  those  luxuries 
of  fashionable  life  which  each  continent  could  offer  to  the 
other. 

As  though  timed  to  guide  the  thought  and  influence  the 
actions  of  the  youthful  city,  so  recently  out  of  leading  strings, 
there  arose  a  constellation  of  literary  stars  whose  effort  was 
both  to  give  to  the  city  a  background  of  recorded  legendary 
or  actual  history  and  to  mould  its  contemporary  life  by  the 
exercise  of  gentle  social  satire.  The  brightest  star  of  all  wag 
Washington  Irving  who,  as  a  child  of  six,  had  with  his 
nurse  joined  the  crowd  which  gathered  before  Federal  Hall 
when  the  oath  of  office  was  administered  to  the  first  Presi- 
dent. Irving's  studies  for  the  bar  had  been  interrupted 
by  an  illness  which  necessitated  a  voyage  to  Europe,  whence 
he  returned  in  February,  1806.  He  found  the  city  at  a 
pleasant  moment  in  its  growth  with  an  organized  and 
mellow  society  which  afforded  both  a  subject  and  an 
audience  for  the  kindly  wit  and  humour  of  his  satire.  Al- 
though admitted  to  the  bar,  his  greater  satisfaction  lay 
in  his  literary  activities,  among  the  first  results  of  which  were 
the  Salmagundi  papers.  Based  upon  the  suggestions  of 
Addison's  Spectator^  these  essays  were  humorous  satires  upon 
the  social  foibles  of  the  day  and  were  written  and  pub- 
lished in  conjunction  with  his  brother,  William,  and  James 
K.  Paulding.  His  next  effort,  "A  History  of  New  York 
from  the  Beginning  of  the  World  to  the  End  of  the  Dutch 
Dynasty  by  Diedrich  Knickerbocker,"  was  heralded  by  an 
advertising  campaign  of  thoroughly  twentieth-century  char- 
acter. In  this  history  he  not  only  satirized  the  pedantry  of 
local  antiquarians,  but  from  the  characteristics  of  the  solid 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  9 

Dutch  burgher  created  a  distinct  literary  type  which  later 
from  time  to  time  he  developed  in  the  charming  stories  of 
Knickerbocker  legendary  lore  which  have  given  to  parts  of 
the  Hudson  valley  a  permanent  place  in  the  literary  geogra- 
phy of  the  world. 

During  a  second  lengthy  sojourn  abroad,  Irving  produced 
a  number  of  exquisitely  written  stories  and  sketches  upon 
English  and  continental  themes  which  won  for  him  his  place 
among  his  European  peers.  Thus  we  see  him  not  only  as  the 
creator  of  the  first  national  literature  based  upon  American 
incident  but  also  as  an  author  of  international  repute  in  the 
English  reading  world. 

These  youthful  spirits,  of  whom  Irving  was  the  leader, 
contributed  their  share  to  the  social  life  and  literary  ac- 
tivities of  the  towTi.  Known  as  the  Knickerbocker  group, 
these  young  men  divided  their  time  between  the  city  and  a 
charming  bachelor's  hall,  an  old  country  home  on  the  Pas- 
saic not  far  from  Newark,  celebrated  in  the  Salmagundi 
papers  as  *'  Cockloft  Hall."  Of  this  lively  group  Mr.  Hamil- 
ton Wright  Mabie  has  drawn  a  vividly  sympathetic  picture  in 
his  little  book,  "The  Writers  of  Knickerbocker  New  York.'* 

During  Irving's  protracted  sojourn  abroad,  the  other 
members  of  this  group  of  his  friends  and  contemporaries  were 
busy  making  names  for  themselves.  James  Kirke  Paulding, 
best  known  as  a  political  writer  and  anti-British  patriot, 
wrote  not  only  political  treatises  and  satires  but,  as  well, 
poems,  novels,  and  parodies.  He  raised  his  protest  against 
English  dominance  in  political  as  well  as  in  literary  and 
artistic  affairs.  At  the  same  time  the  two  friends,  Fitz- 
Green  Halleck  and  Joseph  Rodman  Drake,  were  carrying  on 


10  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

the  impulse  given  by  Irving  and  Paulding  to  social  and  poli- 
tical satire.  Endowed,  as  Mr.  Mabie  says,  with  talent, 
though  not  with  genius,  these  four  "conspired  against  the 
dullness  of  the  town  and  made  it  smile  at  its  own  foUies." 

In  1822  James  Fenimore  Cooper  came  to  the  metropolis, 
heralded  by  his  reputation  as  the  author  of  "The  Pioneers" 
and  "The  Pilot."  He  was  followed  in  1825  by  William 
Cullen  Bryant,  whose  reputation  as  a  poet  was  firmly  based 
upon  "Thanatopsis"  and  "Lines  to  a  Waterfowl."  Still 
attached  to  his  career  as  a  lawyer,  it  was  some  time  before 
Bryant  made  his  permanent  connections  as  an  editor.  Dur- 
ing the  years  1821-1822,  Richard  Henry  Dana  1st.  edited  in 
New  York  the  short-lived  magazine.  The  Idle  Man.  With 
his  Bostonian  background  and  his  New  York  affiliations,  he 
was  a  most  important  link  between  the  hterary  groups  of  the 
two  cities. 

With  the  coming  of  these  men  and  others  toward  the  close 
of  the  first  quarter  of  the  century,  the  beginnings  of  a  dif- 
ferent school  of  writing  were  heralded.  They  are  less  a  part 
of  the  last  days  of  Knickerbocker  New  York  than  they  are 
of  nineteenth-century  America,  and  they  form  a  connecting 
link  between  a  time  which  seems  to  us  remote  and  a  present 
which  was,  but  just  now,  with  us. 

The  artistic  and  intellectual  interests  of  the  town  were 
nourished  not  only  upon  literary  food.  As  a  pendant  to 
the  group  of  writers,  an  equally  vigorous  company  of  artists 
and  architects  was  working  with  a  knowledge  and  sureness 
of  touch  which,  while  reflecting  the  changing  tastes  of  the 
present,  argued  no  lack  of  appreciation  of  the  great  tradi- 
tions of  the  past.     Here,  too,  we  find  men  of  versatile  minds 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  11 

and  training  excelling  not  alone  in  one  thing  but  in  several, 
taking  their  places  as  active  and  conscientious  citizens  in  the 
affairs  of  the  city  and  the  nation. 

In  February,  1801,  there  was  opened  in  rooms  in  the 
Government  House  near  the  Battery  an  exhibition  of  paint- 
ings presented  to  the  city  by  Napoleon  Buonaparte,  First 
Consul  of  the  French  through  Robert  Livingston,  the 
Ambassador  of  the  United  States  at  Paris.  To  Chan- 
cellor Livingston,  also,  was  due  the  establishment  of  the 
Academy  of  Arts  which  was  formed  by  subscription  in 
February,  1802,  and  reorganized  in  1817  with  Trumbull  as 
president.  As  the  Academy  thrived,  there  were  added  to 
the  collection  "antique  statues,  busts, bas-reliefs,  and  books," 
among  the  last,  twenty-four  volumes  of  Piranesi,  presented 
by  Napoleon.  Most  of  the  "antique  statues"  were,  to  be 
sure,  casts  bearing  such  awe-inspiring  names  as  Belvidere 
Apollo,  the  Venus  of  the  Capitol,  and  the  Laocoon.  Of  the 
"moderns"  are  mentioned  busts  of  Washington,  Hamilton, 
Clinton,  West,  and  three  of  Napoleon. 

Another  popular  resort  for  the  artistically  curious  was 
John  Vanderlyn's  "Panoramic  Rotunda."  Here,  on  Cham- 
bers Street  east  of  the  City  Hall,  the  well-known  artist  held 
an  exhibition  in  a  hall  built  for  the  purpose  in  1818.  The 
motley  group  of  panoramic  scenes  included  the  Palace  and 
Gardens  of  Versailles  painted  by  Vanderlyn;  the  City  of 
Paris  by  Barker;  the  City  of  Mexico,  the  Battle  of  Waterloo, 
and  the  City  of  Athens.  A  smaller  connecting  gallery  was 
used  by  Mr.  Vanderlyn  to  show  his  own  paintings  including 
his  Caius  Marius  which  had  received  a  second  prize  at  Paris. 

Not  far  from  the  Rotunda  on  Broadway  near  the  south 


12  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

angle  of  the  park  was  Mr.  Paff's  antiquity  shop.  He  had 
no  competitor  in  the  fine  arts  of  buying,  seUing,  or  repairing 
pictures.  In  the  Architectural  Rooms  of  Ithiel  Towne  and 
M.  E.  Thompson,  in  the  Exchange,  was  assembled  an  ex- 
tensive collection  of  books  and  prints  relative  to  this 
noble  art. 

Of  the  painters  whose  names  may  fairly  be  associated  with 
this  period  which  we  are  reviewing,  two  are  known  to  us 
chiefly  by  their  artistic  works,  two  by  their  scientific  ac- 
complishments . 

John  Vanderlyn  and  John  Trumbull,  historical,  landscape, 
and  portrait  painters,  ranked  high  as  artists  who  painted 
in  the  taste  and  spirit  of  their  time.  Vanderlyn,  a  real 
Knickerbocker,  born  in  Kingston-on-the-Hudson,  studied, 
like  the  other  painters  of  his  generation,  first  in  this  country, 
then  abroad.  He  was,  in  fact,  the  first  American  painter  to 
study  in  France,  rather  than  in  England.  His  chief  rival 
in  New  York,  and  by  no  means  a  friendly  rival  at  that,  was 
John  Trumbull. 

Trumbull,  by  the  accident  of  birth,  began  his  life  with  the 
advantages  of  good  family  and  thorough  education.  His 
father  was  the  Revolutionary  Governor  of  Connecticut  and 
Harvard  was  his  college.  In  1804  he  came  to  New  York 
with  his  English  wife  and  set  up  his  establishment  in  a  house 
at  the  corner  of  Pine  Street  and  Broadway.  A  good  deal  of 
an  opportunist,  he  had  made  other  visits  to  New  York,  us- 
ually, as  now,  in  the  effort  to  further  his  own  success.  His 
return  found  him  well  known  as  an  historical  and  portrait 
painter,  the  pupil  of  Benjamin  West,  a  soldier  and  a  diplomat. 
He  remained  in  America  until  1808 — ^the  years  from  1794 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  13 

until  1806  had  been  prosperous  but  the  embarrassments  of 
commerce  between  1806  and  1814  hit  heavily  the  wealthy 
commercial  clientele  of  the  painter.  Again  in  1816  he  re- 
turned— ^the  War  of  1812  had  come  and  gone  while  he  was  in 
the  enemy's  country — ^and  his  first  effort  was  to  revive  the 
Academy  of  Arts  of  which  he  was  elected  president.  From 
this  time  he  was  chiefly  occupied  in  painting  historical  scenes 
for  the  Washington  Capitol,  then  rebuilding.  His  relation 
to  the  Government  was  as  nearly  as  possible  that  of  a  "court" 
painter.  His  work  is  a  characteristic  note  upon  the  period, 
for  it  breathes  the  picturesque  glory  of  battle,  it  depicts  the 
important  occasions  in  the  foundation  of  the  Government, 
and  portrays  the  leading  figures  who  took  part  in  these 
events. 

Robert  Fulton  and  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  are  best  known 
to  us  by  their  scientific  contributions — ^Fulton  for  his  suc- 
cessful forwarding  of  the  use  of  steam  in  navigation,  Morse 
as  the  inventor  of  the  telegraph.  But  both  of  these  men 
began  life  as  painters  and  have  left  a  number  of  examples  of 
their  work  which  bespeak  their  skill  in  an  art  which  later  was 
crowded  out  of  their  lives  by  scientific  investigation. 

Morse  in  1824  was  living  in  New  York  and  was  commis- 
sioned by  the  Corporation  of  the  city  to  paint  the  portrait 
of  the  venerable  Lafayette,  who  was  then  beginning  his  tri- 
umphant tour  through  the  United  States.  Two  years  later 
he  was  instrumental  in  founding  the  National  Academy  of 
Design,  of  which  he  was  the  first  president.  This  step 
brought  about  his  ears  the  vituperations  of  the  leaders  in  the 
Academy  of  Arts.  For  some  years  after  this  his  painting 
and  lecturing  were  continued  before  his  inventions  began  to 


14  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

occupy  all  his  energies.  A  charming  fictional  treatment  of 
Morse's  life  is  the  delicate  pen  picture  drawn  in  F.  Hopkin- 
son  Smith's  "The  Fortunes  of  Oliver  Horn." 

Fulton,  born  in  1765,  had  practically  given  up  portrait 
painting  by  1794,  according  to  Dunlap.  His  training  had 
been  similar  to  that  of  Trumbull  and  Morse.  He  had 
received  instruction  and  encouragement  from  West  in  Lon- 
don, and  had  travelled  on  the  Continent.  It  was  during  his 
residence  in  England,  while  he  studied  and  painted,  that  he 
first  became  seriously  interested  in  canal  navigation  and 
later,  when  an  intimacy  grew  up  between  him  and  Chan- 
cellor Livingston  in  Paris,  his  dreams  of  the  accomplishment 
of  steam  navigation  had  begun  to  come  true. 

Henry  Inman,  born  in  1801,  was  one  of  the  younger  group 
of  painters  whose  earlier  work  falls  within  our  period.  Ap- 
prenticed to  John  W.  Jarvis  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  was 
one  of  the  organizers  and  the  first  vice-president  of  the  Na- 
tional Academy  of  Design.  Listed  as  a  portraitist,  he  ex- 
celled both  in  miniature  and  oil  painting,  while  in  the  latter 
medium  his  work  included  not  only  figure  and  portrait  work, 
but  genre  and  landscape  as  well.  Inman 's  teacher  and 
patron,  Jarvis,  was  an  eccentric  soul  who  painted  much  and 
well  both  as  a  miniaturist  and  as  a  painter  in  oils.  He  not 
only  worked  in  New  York — ^with  whose  art,  however,  he  is 
particularly  associated — ^but  travelled  to  Philadelphia,  Balti- 
more, Charleston,  and  New  Orleans  to  execute  commissions 
for  portraits. 

Charles  B.-J.-F.  de  Saint  Memin  worked  in  New  York  from 
1793  to  1798,  returned  in  1810  for  a  short  time  and  again  in 
1812.     A  representative  of  the  type  of  French  artist  who 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  15 

came  to  this  country  after  the  Revolution  in  his  own  land, 
Saint  Memin  engraved  small  medallion  portraits  of  many  of 
the  most  prominent  people  in  the  larger  cities  of  the  country. 
His  technical  method  appealed  to  the  spirit  of  the  time.  In 
executing  his  portraits,  mostly  in  profile,  he  made  a  draw- 
ing which  he  reduced  by  pantograph  to  the  small  dimen- 
sions of  his  medallion.  The  copper  plate  was  then  engraved 
and  the  original  drawing,  life-sized  in  crayon,  the  engraved 
plate,  and  twelve  proofs  printed  from  it,  were  delivered  to 
the  sitter  for  the  sum  of  thirty-three  dollars !  Saint  Memin's 
etched  silhouettes  are  less  well  known  than  his  engraved 
portrait  medallions,  but  his  views  of  New  York  are  familiar 
to  all  interested  in  the  earlier  aspect  of  the  city. 

The  work  of  these  artists  is  a  correct  indication  of  the 
contemporary  spirit.  The  chief  works  of  each  of  them 
fall  into  one  of  the  two  groups  of  portrait  or  historical  paint- 
ing. The  first  group,  that  of  portraits,  was  the  inevitable 
result  of  a  successful  commercial  era  when  fortunes  were 
being  made  and  families  were  assuming  in  their  own  eyes  an 
importance  which  could  well  be  expressed  and  perpetuated 
in  this  way.  In  the  second  group,  that  of  historical  paint- 
ings, the  story  of  the  founding  of  the  republic  is  told  in  a 
familiar  language  full  of  pride  in  the  bravery  of  its  soldiers 
and  the  wisdom  of  its  statesmen. 

In  a  contemporary  list  of  New  York  artists  in  which  the 
names  of  Vanderlyn,  Trumbull,  and  Morse  occur,  there  are 
also  mentioned  the  two  architects,  Thompson  and  Towne. 
To  these  must  be  added  the  name  of  John  Macomb,  the 
architect  of  the  City  Hall. 

This  building,  the  finest  of  its  time  in  the  city,  if  not  in 


16  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

the  United  States,  was  begun  in  1803.  The  premium  for  the 
best  plan  had  been  awarded  to  Macomb  and  Mangin,  though 
there  is  still  controversy  as  to  how  much  credit  is  due  to 
Mangin  in  the  conception  of  the  design.  The  prevalence  of 
the  yeUow  fever  at  the  time  of  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone 
was  something  of  a  damper  to  the  ardour  of  the  citizens  and 
was  an  accurate  omen  of  the  vicissitudes  which  were  to  beset 
the  architect  during  the  years  before  the  completion  of 
the  building  in  1812.  The  twenty-five  thousand  dollars 
voted  in  1802  had  been  expanded  to  half  a  million  by 
the  time  the  building  was  finished.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
describe  this  little  gem  of  early-nineteenth-century  architec- 
ture for  it  may  be  visited  any  day  in  its  present  surroundings 
of  skyscrapers.  It  is  said  that  although  the  front  and  sides 
were  built  of  Stockbridge  marble,  the  north  side  was  brown- 
stone,  painted,  since  it  seemed  hardly  likely  that  any  impor- 
tant development  of  the  city  would  occur  north  of  the  City 
Hall  Park!  This  story  is  not,  however,  consistent  with  the 
plan  of  the  city  as  laid  out  by  the  commissioners  in  1811, 
from  which  there  has  been  but  little  deviation  since.  It 
would  require  much  space  to  tell  the  story  of  the  building 
of  the  new  City  Hall  or  to  do  justice  to  the  professional  abil- 
ity and  artistic  genius  of  John  Macomb.  Let  it  suflSce  to 
put  him  at  the  head  of  the  list  of  the  New  York  architects  of 
his  day  and  to  allow  his  masterpiece  to  speak  for  him. 

Of  the  two  architects  Thompson  and  Towne,  we  have 
heard  in  connection  with  the  library  of  architectural  books, 
prints,  and  drawings  which  they  had  established.  A  sur- 
viving though  dormant  example  of  Thompson's  work  is 
the  marble  building  which  housed  the  U.  S.  Branch  Bank  in 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  17 

Wall  Street,  where  the  new  Assay  Office  now  stands.  This 
dignified  fagade,  with  its  rusticated  ground  story  supporting 
four  Ionic  columns,  pediment,  and  entablature,  will  shortly 
be  reerected  in  its  permanent  location  as  the  south  fagade  of 
the  wing  of  American  Decorative  Arts  at  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art.  The  material  used  was  the  marble  of  West- 
chester which  was  superseding  the  brown  freestone  of  New 
Jersey  and  which  was  an  adequate  substitute  for  the  fine 
marble  brought  at  so  great  expense  from  Stockbridge,  Mas- 
sachusetts, for  the  City  Hall. 

Ithiel  Towne  was  one  of  the  more  prominent  architects  of 
the  city  and  possessed  a  very  fine  architectural  library  which 
was  freely  open  to  the  use  of  students.  Friend  and  associate 
both  of  A.  J.  Davis  and  M.  E.  Thompson,  Towne  designed 
and  built  many  buildings  both  alone  and  in  conjunction  with 
Davis.  Much  of  his  surviving  work  is,  however,  an  expon- 
ent of  revival  architecture,  whether  of  the  Greek  or  Gothic 
style,  and  falls  just  outside  our  period  either  in  time  or  in 
spirit. 

Thus  the  fine  arts  of  painting,  sculpture,  architecture,  and 
literature  were  not  without  representation  in  the  early  re- 
publican metropolis.  Music  and  the  theatre,  too,  enjoyed 
considerable  favour.  The  Park  Theatre  in  Chatham  Street 
reigned  supreme  as  the  home  of  the  drama  and  the  opera. 
Gutted  by  fire  in  1820,  it  was  reopened  on  the  first  of  Au- 
gust, 1821,  to  renewed  glory,  and  was  advertised  as  a  fire- 
proof structure  to  soothe  the  timorous!  Traffic  rules  for 
approach  to  it  by  carriages  were  necessitated  by  the  crush 
and  confusion  of  vehicles  bringing  their  fashionable  fares. 

A  number  of  other  theatres  attempted  to  rival  the  Park, 


18  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

but  its  fine  location  near  the  new  City  Hall  and  in  the  heart 
of  an  exclusive  district  left  it  little  to  fear.  An  amusing 
touch  is  seen  in  the  rise  from  notoriety  to  gentility  of  The 
Theatre,  Chatham  Street,  not  far  from  the  Park.  Ori- 
ginally somewhat  declassee^  by  1824  it  was  considered  a 
"reputable  theatre  in  every  respect,"  perhaps  owing  to  its 
rebuilding  and  refurbishing  in  that  year.  Besides  the  three 
established  theatres  running  before  1825  there  were  many 
other  places  of  amusement,  but  none  so  attractive  as  Castle 
Garden,  the  old  fortress  off  the  Battery,  which  had  been  re- 
christened  for  its  mission  of  peace  and  pleasure.  With  the 
covered  amphitheatre  surrounded  by  a  broad  promenade, 
the  lively  band  and  the  myriad  twinkling  lamps  at  night. 
Castle  Garden  formed  the  most  notable  resort  in  the  city 
and  was  constantly  thronged  by  a  gayly  dressed  crowd  in 
all  seasonable  weathers,  although  its  popularity  with  the 
smart  set  fluctuated  somewhat  from  year  to  year.  Here 
landed  the  distinguished  visitor,  Lafayette,  in  October,  1824, 
to  receive  from  the  city  the  most  spontaneous  welcome  it 
has  ever  given  to  a  foreign  guest.  The  city  papers  were  filled 
with  advertisements  of  dancing  teachers — ^mostly  with  good 
French  names — ^and  the  terpsichorean  art  found  many 
devotees. 

It  is  difficult  to  separate  from  the  record  of  the  artistic 
growth  of  the  city  its  contemporaneous  commercial  and  civic 
expansion.  The  mental  picture  of  New  York  of  this  time  is 
a  composite  of  pleasant  social  life  and  commercial  activity, 
of  artistic  effort  and  civic  improvement,  all  interspersed  with 
timely  political  controversy.  It  includes  the  continued 
stimulation  of  all  of  these  by  new  inventions  and  far-reach- 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  19 

ing  plans  for  the  future.  Unfortunately,  in  a  word  picture 
it  is  impossible  to  unite  all  of  these  ideas  so  compactly,  and 
almost  equally  dijBScult  to  condense  into  a  few  paragraphs 
the  story  of  any  one  of  the  many  departments  of  endeavour. 
Particularly  is  this  true  of  the  physical  and  commercial 
aspects  of  the  city's  growth  which  very  closely  reacted  upon 
its  artistic  efforts,  while  the  political  questions  of  the  day, 
centring  very  closely  around  parties  dominated  by  the  per- 
sonalities of  their  leaders,  are  an  excessively  involved  series 
of  controversies  which  were  the  subject  of  heated  dispute 
and  personal  antagonism. 

The  outside  influences  which  acted  most  strikingly — and 
effectively — upon  the  city  were  those  due  to  wars,  fires,  and 
pestilences.  In  some  ways  they  hindered,  in  some  ways 
helped,  the  city's  expansion;  certainly  they  all  changed  its 
geographical  appearance.  To  wars  and  rumours  of  wars,  to 
embargoes  laid  and  lifted,  were  due  the  fluctuations  of  import 
and  export  which  in  large  degree  controlled  the  commercial 
prosperity  and  depression  alternating  in  the  records  of  cus- 
toms revenue.  WTio  would  think  of  ha\dng  his  own  or  his 
wife's  portrait  painted  or  a  new  house  built  when  the  em- 
bargo was  laying  a  lean  hand  upon  every  man's  income  .^^ 

During  the  early  years  of  the  century,  the  Napoleonic 
Wars  occupied  the  stage  of  the  world.  The  United  States, 
a  young  but  important  maritime  commercial  nation,  might 
well  have  been  crushed  between  the  upper  and  nether  mill- 
stones, France  and  Britain.  By  turns  and  together  these 
two  nations  flirted  with  or  scowled  at  the  young  republic 
whose  commerce  was  affected  by  the  interference  of  French 
or  British  war  legislation.     The  dehcate  situation  resulting 


20  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

from  this  European  condition,  very  complicated  in  detail, 
was  resolved  into  actual  war  with  England  by  the  declara- 
tion of  war  in  April,  1812. 

The  war  found  the  country  insecurely  united  as  a  political 
entity  and  considerably  divided  in  its  attitude  toward  the 
conflict  itself.  The  general  feeling  in  New  York  had  been 
against  war  because  of  the  interference  with  commerce, 
but  when  once  the  country  was  definitely  involved,  the  city 
did  not  fall  behind  in  its  participation.  Twenty-six  priva- 
teers were  fitted  out  at  New  York  before  October,  volun- 
teers were  trained  on  land,  large  subscriptions  to  the  war 
loan  were  obtained,  and  every  effort  was  made  to  render 
the  fortifications  of  the  city  adequate. 

The  city  was  the  scene  of  several  spectacular  returns  of 
war  heroes.  In  September  an  enthusiastic  reception  was 
given  to  Commodore  Hull  of  the  U.S.S.  Constitution  after  his 
defeat  of  H.M.S.  Guerriere  on  August  19th.  Captain  Deca- 
tur sailed  away  from  New  York  in  his  frigate,  the  United 
States,  and  returned  in  December  the  victor  over  H.  M. 
frigate  Macedonian,  which  he  had  disabled  on  October  25  th 
by  force  of  superior  gunnery.  A  great  banquet  was  given 
on  December  29th  for  Decatur  and  Hull,  both  of  whom  had 
received  the  freedom  of  the  city  and  had  been  asked  to  sit 
for  their  portraits  which  were  to  hang  in  the  City  Hall.  The 
effect  of  these  two  naval  victories  did  much  to  hearten  the 
citizens  by  the  proof  of  the  prowess  of  the  Americans  when 
pitted  against  the  greatest  naval  power  of  Europe. 

Numerous  other  lesser  naval  victories  were  celebrated  and 
land  defeats  mourned,  but  the  climax  of  enthusiasm  was 
reached  in  the  illuminations  and  ceremonies  in  October, 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  21 

1813,  in  honour  of  Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Erie  in  September. 
He,  too,  received  the  freedom  of  the  city  and  his  portrait  was 
requested  for  the  City  Hall.  Great  rejoicing  greeted  the 
news  of  the  signing  of  the  treaty  of  peace  in  Ghent,  which 
reached  the  city  in  February,  1815. 

Fires,  great  and  small,  were  of  periodic  occurrence  in  the 
town.  The  record  of  an  extensive  fire  in  an  ancient  section 
is  usually  followed  by  the  projection  of  some  fine  stone  or 
brick  buildings  soon  to  rise  from  the  ashes.  The  yellow 
fever  and  other  plagues  which  from  time  to  time  devastated 
the  population  were  instrumental  in  extending  the  familiar- 
ity of  the  city  dwellers  to  the  delightful  country  near  by. 
Greenwich  Village  grew  into  a  thriving  town  during  the 
epidemic  of  1822.  The  disease  appeared  in  Rector  Street 
about  the  middle  of  July,  and  by  the  20th  of  August  practi- 
cally all  sorts  of  business  oflBces  were  removed  to  Greenwich 
Village — even  the  ferries  changed  their  courses — and  scarcely 
any  residents  were  left  south  of  the  City  Hall.  Early  in 
November  the  citizens  were  able  to  return  to  their  homes, 
leaving  behind  them,  however,  enough  people  to  make  up  a 
nucleus  for  future  growi;h. 

Due  to  the  desire  partly  to  guard  against  the  spread  of 
disease,  partly  to  simplify  the  topography  of  the  city,  very 
many  changes  and  improvements  were  made  in  its  geo- 
graphical layout  during  the  period.  Whole  streets  in  the 
old  part  of  town  were  widened,  Hudson  and  Washington 
Squares  laid  out,  planted  and  surrounded  by  stately  man- 
sions. The  triangle  of  ground,  now  Hanover  Square,  was 
cleared  of  its  buildings  and  made  a  breathing  space.  A  plan 
for  the  future  development  of  the  island  was  drawn  up,  the 


22  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

various  fresh-water  ponds  were  filled  in,  and  the  low  rolling 
hills  surrounding  the  Collect  were  levelled  for  filling. 

At  the  same  time  these  civic  improvements  were  going 
on,  the  whole  situation  with  reference  to  transportation 
was  revolutionized  by  the  application  of  steam  to  navi- 
gation. Fulton's  successful  establishment  of  steamboats  on 
the  Hudson  was  one  of  the  most  important  events  of  the 
period  in  this  country,  if  not  in  the  world.  The  inventor's 
early  death  in  1815  prevented  his  witnessing  the  full  develop- 
ment of  the  plans  which  he,  with  Robert  Livingston,  had 
inaugurated.  By  1825,  about  one  hundred  steamboats  of 
every  description  had  been  built  in  New  York,  passage  to 
Albany  was  accomplished  in  ten  to  fifteen  hours,  the  trip  to 
England  or  France  in  about  twenty-five  days  or  a  month. 
There  were  also  lines  to  Vera  Cruz,  Savannah,  Charleston, 
Mobile,  New  Orleans,  Boston,  Richmond,  and  Havana. 

The  establishment  of  these  lines  of  steamship  communica- 
tion with  European  and  American  ports  resulted  in  a  huge 
increase  both  in  the  population  of  New  York  and  in  its  com- 
merce. The  population  in  1800,  about  60,489  inhabitants, 
had  by  1825  reached  168,000,  an  average  increase  of  about 
4,000  a  year.  The  value  of  merchandise  passing  through  the 
port,  in  1800  about  fourteen  million  dollars,  by  1825  was 
more  than  thirty-four  millions.  Marked  downward  fluctua- 
tions resulted  from  the  embargoes  of  the  Napoleonic  Wars  and 
from  the  War  of  1812,  while  the  too  great  revival  of  importa- 
tion after  the  latter  war  led  to  a  paralysis  of  domestic  trade 
and  manufacture  which  affected  all  classes  of  society. 

By  the  year  1825,  however,  the  process  of  stabilization  had 
pretty  well  worked  itself  out.     Most  of  the  activities  which 


PLATE   IX.     ARMCHAIR  SHOWING   EMPIRE   INFLUENCE 
PART    OF    SUITE    WITH    SOFA.     PLATE     XVII 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  23 

have  here  been  so  briefly  suggested  were  estabhshed  in  their 
regular  courses.  From  the  provincial  city  had  evolved  a 
young  metropolis,  filled  with  a  considerable  sense  of  its  own 
importance,  interested  no  longer  exclusively  in  its  own  af- 
fairs but  branching  out  in  all  directions  to  make  valuable 
contacts  with  other  parts  of  the  country  and  with  lands  be- 
yond the  seas.  The  growth  of  New  York  had  been  more 
rapid  than  that  of  any  other  city  on  the  eastern  seaboard, 
and  already  through  its  port  came  and  went  a  proportion- 
ately larger  flow  of  export,  import,  and  immigration.  Its 
natural  position  rendered  it  particularly  convenient  as  a 
centre  of  distribution  for  the  rest  of  the  country. 

Transportation  by  land  had  not  kept  pace  with  transpor- 
tation by  water.  The  application  of  steam  to  navigation 
had  given  to  the  steamboat  an  advantage  which  it  took  the 
locomotive  many  years  to  discount,  and  even  before  the  use 
of  steam  was  thought  of  transport  by  water  seemed  far 
simpler  than  by  land.  Washington  himself,  before  the 
Revolution,  realized  that  if  the  great  natural  resources  of  the 
continent  were  to  be  deflected  to  the  eastern  seaboard,  and 
away  from  the  French  province  of  Louisiana,  served  as  it 
was  by  the  Mississippi  valley,  some  artery  of  transportation 
must  be  found  between  the  region  west  of  the  Alleghanies 
and  the  Cat  skills.  To  him,  the  preferable  route  for  this 
artery  would  lead  into  the  Potomac.  With  a  group  of  im- 
portant Virginians,  he  had  projected  the  building  of  a  great 
canal  between  the  Ohio  and  Potomac  rivers.  The  site, 
which  he  later  chose  for  the  capital  city,  was  thus,  in  his  plan, 
destined  to  be  near  the  metropolitan  and  commercial  centre 
of  the  eastern  coast,  the  great  port  of  import  from  Europe 


24  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

and  export  from  America.  A  fully  organized  company 
considered  the  scheme,  surveys  were  made,  capital  was 
promised,  and  Washington  was  made  president  of  the  cor- 
poration for  the  development  of  the  plan.  Haste  was  desir- 
able since  there  were  already  rumours  of  an  important  canal 
projected  in  northern  New  York  State,  to  connect  the  Great 
Lakes  with  the  Hudson  River,  though  the  British  possession 
of  Niagara  was  likely  to  give  the  proposed  Ohio-Potomac 
canal  a  monopoly  for  some  years. 

Washington's  election  as  President  of  the  republic  meant 
the  relinquishment  by  him  of  all  private  business  connec- 
tions. He  resigned  from  the  canal  organization,  though 
never  ceasing  to  give  it  his  interest  and  to  urge  its  construc- 
tion as  a  vital  step  in  the  development  of  the  country.  But 
without  his  actual  presence  at  the  helm,  the  movement 
slowed  down  and  finally  was  abandoned. 

Washington's  feeling  that  the  unity  of  the  country  de- 
pended upon  its  being  closely  linked  together  by  great  con- 
verging highways  was  shared  by  other  men  of  his  day  who, 
however,  differed  from  him  in  their  choice  of  location  for 
the  important  seaport  which  was  necessary  as  an  outlet  and  a 
distributing  point.  As  early  as  1783  Washington  and  Gov- 
ernor George  Clinton,  on  a  trip  to  Saratoga  Springs  and 
through  the  Mohawk  valley,  had  considered  the  feasibility 
of  a  canal  from  Oswego  to  Albany.  Several  other  sugges- 
tions for  canals  in  northern  New  York  State  to  connect  the 
Great  Lakes  with  the  Hudson  were  made  from  time  to  time, 
but  it  was  not  until  1810  that  DeWitt  Clinton,  the  great  ad- 
vocate of  the  Erie  Canal,  gave  a  fresh  impetus  to  the  move- 
ment.    From  that  time  until  its  final  completion  the  sup- 


OF   DUNCAN   PHYFE  25 

porters  of  the  project  had  to  fight  against  the  most  bitter 
opposition  based  both  upon  increduHty  as  to  the  practica- 
bihty  of  the  canal  and  doubt  of  the  capacity  of  the  state 
to  furnish  the  means  to  complete  it. 

Begun  on  July  4,  1817,  the  work  was  finished  in  the  au- 
tumn of  1825.  At  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  October 
26th  of  that  year  the  first  canal  boat,  Seneca  Chief,  left  Buf- 
falo with  a  distinguished  group  of  passengers.  The  event 
was  announced  to  the  state  by  the  booming  of  cannon  from 
one  end  of  the  canal  at  Buffalo  to  New  York  and  back  at 
regularly  timed  intervals.  On  the  4th  of  November,  the 
Seneca  Chief  arrived  at  New  York. 

It  was  fitting  that  the  city  which  had  both  originated  and 
supported  the  building  of  the  Erie  Canal  from  the  beginning 
should  have  led  in  the  ceremonies  attending  its  realization. 
The  event  was  celebrated  in  New  York  by  extraordinary 
civic  and  naval  ceremonies  and  the  enthusiasm  of  the  people 
reached  a  height  seldom  if  ever  attained  before  or  since.  The 
celebration  was  in  two  parts,  on  sea  and  on  land.  The  grand 
fleet  had  arrived  before  sunrise  on  November  4th  and  the 
day  opened  to  the  accompaniment  of  roaring  cannon  and 
pealing  bells.  The  Washington  steamed  down  to  welcome 
the  fleet,  which  was  dressed  in  the  brilliant  flags  appropriate 
to  the  occasion.  The  naval  procession  filed  past  the  Bat- 
tery and  was  saluted  by  the  military  on  Governor's  Island 
and  in  the  forts  at  the  Narrows.  It  then  joined  the  U.  S. 
Schooner  Porpoise^  moored  within  Sandy  Hook,  where  the 
ceremony  of  the  wedding  of  Lake  Erie  with  the  Atlantic  was 
to  be  performed. 

A  painted  keg  which  had  been  made  for  the  purpose  and 


26  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

filled  with  water  from  Lake  Erie  was  emptied  into  the  waters 
of  the  Atlantic  by  Governor  Clinton,  who  delivered  a  short 
address.  In  commingling  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  with 
those  of  our  Great  Lakes,  he  said  that  he  was  thus  com- 
memorating the  *' wisdom,  public  spirit,  and  energy  of  the 
people  of  the  State  of  New  York"  in  establishing  navigable 
communication  between  these  two  great  bodies  of  water. 
Just  before  the  ceremony  the  resolution  was  taken  to  pre- 
serve a  portion  of  the  water  in  bottles  of  American  fabric,  to 
enclose  these  in  a  handsome  box  made  by  Duncan  Phyfe 
from  a  log  of  cedarwood  brought  from  Lake  Erie,  and  to  send 
the  case  to  Major-General  Lafayette,  so  recently  a  visitor  to 
the  city.  After  this  impressive  ceremony  the  vessels  drew  in 
to  shore  to  witness  the  great  land  procession  as  it  passed 
around  the  Battery. 

This  second  part  of  the  day's  celebration  was  already 
under  way.  The  procession  had  formed  under  the  direction 
of  the  Grand  Marshal,  on  the  west  side  of  Greenwich  Street 
with  its  right  on  Marketfield  Street,  and  by  eleven  o'clock 
the  line  was  already  in  motion. 

The  greatest  land  procession  which  had  ever  been  seen 
in  the  city,  this  parade  was  arranged  in  four  divisions.  Pre- 
ceded by  mounted  trumpeters  came  the  Grand  Marshal  of 
the  day.  General  Augustus  Fleming,  with  his  four  aides  all 
mounted,  uniformly  dressed,  wearing  white  satin  collars  and 
rosettes  and  carrying  short  white  batons  tipped  with  gold. 
These  oflScials  of  the  day  were  followed  by  the  Corporation 
Band. 

Following  were  the  four  divisions  of  marchers  in  whose 
ranks  were  represented   all  of  the  associations  of  crafts- 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  27 

men,  tradesmen,  and  mechanics,  the  fire  department,  stu- 
dents, officers  of  mihtia,  and  the  Masonic  lodges — ^in  all, 
about  seven  thousand.  Each  of  the  thirty  or  more  sections 
of  the  line  was  headed  by  a  colourful  banner  painted  with 
elaborate  devices  which  in  many  cases  was  followed  not  only 
by  marchers  in  ranks,  but  by  large  floats.  The  fire  com- 
panies, particularly  proud  of  their  brilliantly  painted  engines, 
marched  in  high  beaver  hats  and  long-tailed  broadcloth 
coats  with  the  engines  and  implements  of  their  calling  taste- 
fully (so  the  records  tell  us)  decorated  with  paint,  silks,  and 
velvets.  Some  of  the  magnificent  engines  in  their  gaudy 
paint  were  mounted  on  floats  that  were  covered  with  rich 
Brussels  carpet ! 

Due  to  the  nearness  of  Election  Day,  the  assemblage  of 
armed  forces  was  forbidden,  so  that  the  parade  represented 
purely  the  civic  life  of  the  city.  The  line  of  march  led  up 
Greenwich  Street  to  Canal  and  Broadway,  up  Broadway  to 
Broome  Street,  through  Broome  to  the  Bowery,  and  down 
the  Bowery  to  Pearl  and  the  Battery.  The  dazzling  line 
reached  the  Battery  about  three  o'clock,  at  which  time,  the 
aquatic  part  of  the  celebration  having  been  completed,  the 
vessels  had  drawn  in  close  to  shore.  The  procession  passed 
around  the  broad  walk  at  the  edge  of  the  Battery  under  the 
eyes  of  the  notables  on  shipboard.  As  the  end  of  the  proces- 
sion passed,  the  officials  of  the  Corporation  of  the  City  dis- 
embarked with  their  invited  guests  and  fell  in  at  the  rear, 
following  aU  the  way  to  the  City  Hall,  where  the  procession 
dispersed. 

This  ended  the  festivities  of  the  afternoon.  In  the  even- 
ing the  City  Hall  was  iUuminated  by  thousands  of  lamps  and 


28  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

candles  and  by  a  great  display  of  fireworks.  The  next  day 
the  chief  guests  were  entertained  on  board  the  steamer 
Chancellor  Livingston,  and  on  INIonday,  the  seventh,  the 
whole  series  of  festivities  was  concluded  at  a  grand  ball 
given  by  the  oflBcers  of  the  Militia. 

In  contrasting  the  two  great  parades,  more  than  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  apart — ^the  one  commemorating  the  death 
of  Washington,  the  other  celebrating  a  great  achievement — 
we  cannot  fail  to  recognize  vividly  the  changes  which  had 
occurred  in  the  city  during  twenty-five  years.  The  different 
lines  of  march  of  the  two  give  some  suggestion  of  the  geo- 
graphical expansion  of  the  town.  In  the  first,  the  groups  of 
marchers  were  formed  on  the  basis  of  social  cleavage ;  in  the 
second,  chiefly  on  a  basis  of  the  various  lines  of  human  en- 
deavour found  in  an  active  commercial  community.  There 
is  almost  a  suggestion  of  labour  unions  in  the  closely  knit 
groups  of  craftsmen  and  mechanics  who  rallied  behind  the 
banners  of  their  callings.  Here  is  suggested  a  civic  life 
whose  complexity  required  a  definite  grouping  of  its  com- 
ponent parts — ^twenty-five  years  or  more  before  one  group 
in  the  parade  had  been  composed  of  "citizens"  and  included 
all  those  who  were  not  definitely  allied  with  some  one  of  the 
military,  philanthropic,  or  fraternal  organizations.  In  the 
celebration  of  1825  there  is  seen  a  record  of  the  scientific  and 
commercial  advance  of  the  years  immediately  preceding,  the 
shaping  of  a  social  structure  which  has  continued  to  the 
present  day,  and  the  consciousness  of  unbounded  resources 
in  the  newly  accessible  lands  to  the  westward  which  were 
now  directly  connected  in  a  commercial  way  with  all  parts 
of  the  globe. 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE 


29 


The  concomitant  of  this  emphasis  upon  the  scientific  and 
commercial  aspect  of  the  city's  growth  was  the  decided  low- 
ering of  the  standards  of  taste  in  things  artistic.  Nothing 
more  homely,  nor  at  the  same  time  more  gaudily  brilliant, 
than  the  preparations  and  decorations  for  the  Erie  Canal 
Celebration  can  be  imagined  as  we  compare  them  with  the 
more  distinguished  efforts  of  an  earlier  generation. 

The  temporary  death-knell  of  taste  in  the  United  States 
had  been  tolled,  and  the  interest  of  the  creative  minds  of  the 
country  was  swinging  away  from  aesthetic  matters  to  those  of 
scientific  and  commercial  importance  which  were  prescribed 
by  the  industrial  revolution  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Al- 
most one  hundred  years  after  this  interest  seems  to  be  swing- 
ing back  to  a  normal  position  which  includes  in  its  scope  both 
science  and  art,  each  with  its  proper  emphasis  in  the  sum 
total  of  cultural  values.  And  the  development  of  the  aesthe- 
tic component  of  this  modern  culture  must  find  its  roots  in 
a  time  when  its  standards  were  still  high,  its  ideals  still  fine, 
and  the  integrity  of  its  craftsmanship  still  unsullied  by  me- 
chanical device. 


II 

DUNCAN  PHYFE  AND  THE  ARTISTIC 
INFLUENCES  OF  HIS  TIME 

Duncan  Phyfe  (1768-1854)  was  born  in  the  days  of  the 
great  eighteenth-century  furniture  makers — in  the  Age  of 
Cabinet-makers,  as  it  has  sometimes  been  called.  In  France, 
the  reign  of  Louis  XV  and  the  Pompadour  had  seen  the 
supremacy  of  the  minor  arts  upheld  by  the  great  ebenistes 
and  cizeleurs.  These  men  enlisted  the  services  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished designers,  painters,  and  sculptors  of  the  day 
in  the  perfection  and  enrichment  of  the  gorgeous  furniture 
which  filled  the  royal  chateaux  and  those  of  the  nobility. 
The  craftsmen  who  later  lent  distinction  to  the  work  of  the 
reign  of  Louis  XVI,  and  of  the  post-revolutionary  epochs 
of  the  Directory,  the  Consulate,  and  the  Empire,  were  being 
trained  in  this  school  of  noble  design  and  of  perfection  in 
execution  whose  standards  they  carried  on  into  the  early 
nineteenth  century.  In  England,  Thomas  Chippendale 
was  at  the  height  of  his  popularity  and  the  designs  in  his 
"Gentleman  and  Cabinet  Maker's  Director"  were  still 
undisputed  in  their  influence.     Robert  Adam,  not  long  since 

returned  from  Italy,  had  already  been  appointed  architect 

so 


a 


y. 


FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES       31 

to  the  Kjng  and  was  soon  to  make  his  taste  predominate 
over  the  elaboration  of  the  Chippendale  following.  George 
Hepple white,  whose  influence  upon  Phyfe  must  be  taken 
into  account,  was  working  at  his  trade  and  acquiring  the  ex- 
perience in  furniture  design  and  construction  of  which  the 
Hepple  white  "Guide"  later  gave  ample  evidence.  Thomas 
Sheraton,  Phyfe's  immediate  inspiration,  then  a  youth  ap- 
prenticed to  a  provincial  craftsman,  was  imbibing  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  mechanics  of  his  craft  as  well  as  formulating  a 
complete  conception  of  religious  doctrine  which  bred  in  him 
the  pedagogical  instinct  dictating  the  scope  of  his  later  ac- 
tivities. 

This  period  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  one 
of  sophistication  and  luxury,  of  a  society  interested  chiefly 
in  its  pleasures  which  it  took  with  an  abandon  outwardly 
elegant.  The  somewhat  surfeited  though  ravenous  taste 
of  the  moneyed  classes  needed  the  constant  stimulation  of 
variety  or  innovation.  This  led,  in  England,  to  a  pre- 
ponderantly eclectic  character  in  utilitarian  art,  the  art 
which  responds  most  quickly  of  all  to  changes  of  taste  or 
social  usage,  while  in  France  the  superior  genius  of  the  de- 
signers and  craftsmen  forced  this  eclecticism  into  moulds 
of  their  own  conception. 

The  heritage  of  many  epochs  of  furniture  design  which  had 
come  down  to  the  cabinet-makers  of  the  last  half  of  the  eight- 
eenth century  was  brought  by  them  to  a  luxuriant  flowering. 
The  evolution  of  furniture  forms  was  already  accomplished 
with  a  few  exceptions  which  the  usage  of  the  time  soon  called 
into  being.  The  wide  variety  of  materials  already  in  use  left 
little  scope  to  the  inventiveness,  in  this  line,  of  individual 


32  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

workmen.  The  glossary  of  decorative  motives  was  completed 
by  the  introduction  of  the  late  Roman  detail  early  in  the 
period.  The  remaining  opportunities  for  the  furniture  de- 
signer and  craftsman  lay  in  his  personal  method  of  approach- 
ing and  treating  his  problems  of  design  or  in  his  originality  in 
combining  his  decorative  motives  and  his  rich  materials.  The 
result  of  this  condition  of  affairs  was  the  conscious  creation 
of  furniture  styles  which  were  differentiated  each  from  the 
other  by  a  certain  studied  use  of  a  limited  number  of  decora- 
tive motives  and  design  forms  combined  in  characteristic 
ways. 

In  the  superb  designs  of  the  period  of  Louis  XV,  the  ro- 
caille  taste  which  had  been  developing  throughout  the 
seventeenth  and  early  eighteenth  centuries  was  brought 
to  its  logical  expression.  It  was  a  vehicle  of  perfect  flexi- 
bility for  the  rendition  of  the  subtle,  refined,  and  aristocratic 
taste  of  the  time.  Elaborate,  often  gorgeous,  the  furniture 
design  possesses  an  intellectual  quality  which  it  is  sometimes 
diflGicult  for  the  uninitiated  to  discover,  but  its  presence  defi- 
nitely refutes  the  charge  of  superficiality  which  is  often  lev- 
elled against  the  decorative  art  of  the  Louis  XV  period. 

With  the  classical  influence  exerted  by  the  archaeological 
investigations  in  Italy  and  the  handsome  publications  of 
Piranesi,  the  developed  style  of  Louis  XVI  is  marked  by 
colder  and  less  inspired  qualities  of  design  though  it  retains 
the  same  high  standards  of  craftsmanship  in  its  execution. 
The  debacle  of  the  Revolution  brought  with  it  the  desire  for 
simplicity  on  the  part  of  its  protagonists  whose  taste  ac- 
cepted the  style  of  Louis  XVI,  with  which  they  were  in  some 
degree  familiar,  but  shorn  of  much  of  its  more  elaborate 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  33 

decoration.  The  furniture  of  the  period  of  the  Directory, 
strikingly  related  to  that  of  Phyfe,  is  of  this  sort  and 
shows  a  frequent  use  of  woods  unpainted  and  ungilded, 
decorated  with  low  relief  carving  and  characterized  by  atten- 
uated proportion.  Under  the  Consulate,  the  same  austerity 
of  design  is  retained  but  acquires  a  more  elaborate  applique 
of  decoration,  while  with  the  Empire  came  the  full  blare  of 
gorgeous  decorative  treatment  and  an  increasing  solidity  of 
form  based  upon  architectural  formulae. 

To  trace  a  parallel  course  in  England  we  must  return  to 
Chippendale's  designs,  which,  supplemented  by  others  of 
less  well  known  men,  had  given  expression  to  the  rococo  love 
for  the  unusual  and  the  exotic,  which  dominated  the  com- 
plicated taste  of  the  time.  His  style  at  its  best  and  most 
typical  was  of  a  very  high  artistic  quality,  of  imaginative 
and  intellectual  content,  suited  to  its  uses  and  carried  out  in 
appropriate  material.  Both  the  decoration  and  structural 
lines  were  plastic,  essentially,  but  in  the  latter  the  feeling  for 
the  material  was  seldom  violated. 

As  the  freshness  of  the  style  began  to  wane  the  tendency 
toward  over-elaboration  made  itself  all  too  obvious.  The 
bizarre  and  eccentric  became  the  rule  rather  than  the  ex- 
ception, and  the  effort  degenerated  into  one  of  striving  to 
produce  the  novel  rather  than  the  fine  effect. 

Due  partially  to  this  undesirable  ingrowing  tendency  of 
the  art  itself,  partially  to  the  budding  romanticism  of  the 
time,  the  innovations  begun  by  Robert  Adam  in  the  third 
quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  met  with  hearty  endorse- 
ment. The  discovery  and  excavation  of  the  ruins  of  Her- 
culaneum  and  Pompeii  had  gripped  both  the  scientific  and 


34  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

romantic  interests  of  the  cultivated  public,  so  that  a  contem- 
porary architecture  and  decorative  art  referring  directly 
back  to  those  late-Roman  times  held  an  immense  appeal  for 
a  considerable  group  of  people.  It  was  upon  this  basis, 
therefore,  that  Robert  Adam  built  up  the  style  to  which  his 
name  is  attached. 

Although  he  was  an  architect,  not  a  cabinet-maker,  the 
necessity  for  suitable  furniture  in  the  houses  which  he  de- 
signed— ^in  which  the  prevailing  style  of  Chippendale  seemed 
to  him  out  of  place — soon  led  Adam  into  the  designing  of 
furniture  and  decorative  accessories  incorporating  the  mo- 
tives which  he  had  made  his  own.  These  included  a  classic 
symmetry  in  composition,  the  preferred  use  of  the  straight 
line  in  vertical  structural  members,  and  of  geometrical  forms, 
curved  or  polygonal,  in  plan.  The  total  effect  of  these  gen- 
eral changes  was  a  lightening  of  the  proportions,  an  interest- 
ing effect  gained  chiefly  by  the  contrast  of  complementary 
forms  and  the  employment  of  consistent  scale,  in  an  architec- 
tural sense,  throughout  the  design.  This  definite  scale  in 
the  furniture  was  emphasized  by  the  use  of  much  decoration 
of  architectural  origin.  Vertical  supports,  such  as  table 
legs,  were  designed  upon  the  basis  of  the  classic  fluted 
column.  In  carving  were  employed  swags  of  flowers  or 
drapery,  acanthus,  water  and  palm  leaves,  musical  instru- 
ments tied  with  ribbons,  and  many  other  delicate  details 
whose  use  was  suggested  by  their  former  employment  in 
architectural  decoration.  With  Adam  this  type  of  furniture 
design  resolved  itself  into  that  of  architectural  design  in  the 
small.  The  points  of  study  were  those  of  mass  and  pro- 
portion, the  placing  of  decoration  and,  above  all,  correctness 


PLATE    XIX.      CARD    TABLE,    SHERATON     INFLUENCE 

THE      CORNER      BLOCKS      ARE      CARVED      WITH      THE      PRINCE      OF 
WALES      1'  E  A  T  H  E  R  S 


PLATE  XX.   CARD  TABLE,  SHERATON  INFLUENCE 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  35 

and  consistency  of  scale.  The  most  valid  criticism  of  much 
of  the  Adam  work  is  levelled  against  the  rather  unimagina- 
tive and  dry  quality  which  results  from  this  method  of  de- 
sign creation. 

Adam,  as  has  been  said,  was  not  a  cabinet-maker,  and  his 
designs  were,  perforce,  carried  out  by  workmen  over  whom 
he  exercised  some  control.  But  at  the  hands  of  actual  cabi- 
net-makers, the  type  of  furniture  design  begun  by  Adam 
achieved  its  real  perfection  as  an  art-craft.  The  two  names 
of  Hepplewhite  and  Sheraton  stand  out  as  characterizing 
particularly  personal  treatments  of  furniture  by  trained  cabi- 
net-makers following  out  the  impulse  newly  given  by  Adam. 
Hepplewhite,  like  Chippendale  in  his  last  manner,  had 
turned  to  the  France  of  Louis  XV  for  the  forms  which  might 
possibly  combat  the  rising  tide  of  Roman  detail  that  was 
following  in  the  wake  of  Robert  Adam.  Eventually  he  suc- 
cumbed and  we  find  him  working  in  the  pure  Adam  style 
although  imbuing  his  work  with  enough  of  his  own  person- 
ality to  mark  in  it  a  tendency  away  from  Adam's  artificiality 
and  toward  greater  comfort.  In  its  final  development,  the 
work  of  Hepplewhite  shows  the  designer  and  the  cabinet- 
maker in  him  at  complete  harmony,  confessing  at  the  same 
time  obligations  both  to  Rome  and  to  France,  but  fusing 
the  two  into  an  English  whole  under  the  fire  of  personal 
enthusiasm  for  his  craft. 

In  Sheraton  is  seen  a  cabinet-maker  by  trade  and  a  de- 
signer by  profession  whose  rank  is  among  the  foremost.  He 
figures  not  only  in  these  two  fields,  designing  and  handi- 
craft, but  also  as  an  editor  and  publisher  of  designs  by  other 
men  for  furniture  current  in  his  time.     Thus  he  stands  as 


36  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

one  of  the  important  educational  influences  in  the  art -crafts 
of  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  disseminating  designs 
and  information  which  came  into  the  hands  of  practically 
every  furniture  craftsman  to  the  lasting  improvement  of 
English  cabinet-work. 

Sheraton  was  not  only  a  collector  of  other  men's  designs, 
but  actually  inaugurated  a  distinct  style  of  his  own  which 
differed  in  many  minute  details  from  that  of  Hepplewhite. 
In  his  chairs,  he  showed  genuine  originality,  although  in 
much  of  his  detail  is  seen  a  seasoning  of  the  French  style  of 
the  period  of  Louis  XVI.  All  in  all,  his  designs — ^for  his 
actual  handiwork  is  unknown  and  unidentified,  and  it  is  not 
believed  that  he  ever  did  any  cabinet-work  after  he  came 
to  London  in  1790 — are  the  very  last  word  in  fine  cabinet- 
work of  the  eighteenth  century  in  England,  containing  the 
essence  of  all  the  new  ideas  which  had  come  into  being  in 
the  last  quarter  of  the  century,  as  well  as  some  of  the  ten- 
dencies which  eventually  led  to  its  deterioration. 

Phyfe,  in  America,  was  the  heir  of  this  age  and  helped  to 
prolong  it,  in  the  new  land,  well  into  the  nineteenth  century. 
By  the  time  that  he  was  working  entirely  on  his  own  re- 
sponsibility, he  was  able  to  profit  by  all  the  accomplish- 
ments of  the  last  great  English  cabinet-makers  and,  seeing 
their  work  as  a  whole,  he  could  pick  and  choose  those  treat- 
ments which  his  native  good  taste  and  feeling  for  his  craft 
told  him  were  legitimate  and  appropriate  for  his  use.  At 
the  same  time  the  changing  style  in  France  was  eventuating 
in  the  chaste  simplicity  of  the  Directory  and  the  early 
Consulate,  whose  influences  were  felt  very  promptly  in 
New  York. 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  37 

Born  in  1768  at  Loch  Fannich,  thirty  miles  from  Inver- 
ness, Scotland,  Duncan  Phyfe  came  with  his  parents  and 
their  other  children  to  America  in  1783  or  1784.  On  the 
long  voyage  from  Scotland  two  of  the  children  of  the  family 
died,  one  of  them  his  younger  sister.  The  family  settled 
in  Albany,  where  the  boy,  Duncan,  then  sixteen  years  of 
age,  worked  at  the  cabinet-maker's  trade  into  which  it  is 
probable  that  he  had  been  inducted  before  he  left  home. 
After  a  time  he  went  into  business  for  himself  in  Albany, 
where  it  is  said  that  he  did  considerable  work  before  leaving 
that  city.  Sometime  early  in  the  1790's  he  came  to 
New  York,  lured,  like  many  another  ambitious  youth,  by 
the  fame  of  the  city  as  a  growing  metropolis  which  recently 
for  a  short  time  had  been  the  capital  of  the  country.  Lo- 
cating first  in  Broad  Street,  in  the  midst  of  a  district  full  of 
cabinet-makers,  he  made  several  changes  of  abode  and 
work,  settling  finally  in  1795  in  Partition  Street,  not  far 
from  the  "Common."  Here  he  stayed  for  the  rest  of  his 
days,  seeing  the  town  grow  far  to  the  north  and  pass 
through  many  changes. 

At  first  it  was  a  hard  struggle  to  get  sufficient  work,  but 
a  fortunate  connection  was  made  with  certain  members  of 
the  family  of  John  Jacob  Astor,  whose  wealth  was  already 
very  great,  and  this  led  to  more  and  more  increased  business 
among  the  people  of  means  in  the  city.  Even  before  1800  it 
is  probable  that  Phyfe's  work  was  considered  among  the 
best  obtainable  in  New  York,  for  in  at  least  one  case  we 
know  of  a  man  of  wealth,  who,  marrying  in  1797,  had  all  of 
the  furniture  for  his  new  home  made  by  Phyfe. 

The  increasing  prosperity  of  Phyfe  coincided  with  that  of 

4  r»  >:  :i  5 


38  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

the  city.  Many  families,  whose  wealth  was  rapidly  mount- 
ing up,  were  building  new  brick  or  marble  houses  which  had 
to  be  furnished  in  the  prevailing  taste.  Many  of  them 
found  the  furniture  from  Phyfe's  workshop  not  only  the 
finest  from  the  point  of  view  of  workmanship  and  design, 
but  best  adapted  to  the  character  and  scale  of  their  interior 
architecture. 

His  reputation,  too,  was  spreading  and  orders  came  to 
him  from  other  cities,  such  as  Philadelphia  and  Albany, 
while  in  the  adjacent  country  in  New  Jersey  and  the  Hudson 
valley  handsome  coiuitry  seats  were  springing  up  and  in 
many  of  these  his  handiwork  found  a  place.  To  his  shop 
one  could  go  not  only  for  the  exquisite  mahogany  draw- 
ing-room or  dining-room  suites,  but,  for  the  accommodation 
of  his  clients,  he  would  furnish  kitchen  furniture  such  as  iron- 
ing boards,  clothes  horses,  pastry  boards,  and  servants'  beds. 
He  also  did  careful  repairing  of  furniture.  This  custom 
was  usual  among  the  cabinet-makers  of  the  eighteenth 
century  in  England  who  undertook  to  furnish  a  house  from 
cellar  to  garret  with  appropriate  articles. 

That  he  very  soon  found  business  growing  beyond  his 
expectation  is  proved  by  the  increase  in  his  property.  At 
first  with  only  the  one  house  at  No.  35,  in  1807  he  acquired 
No.  34  next  door,  and  in  181 1 ,  No.  33  Partition  Street.  The 
original  house  was  still  his  dwelling  with  the  salesrooms  at 
No.  34  and  the  workshop  and  warehouse  at  No.  33,  these 
buildings  being  all  on  the  same  side  of  the  street. 

Shortly  after  Robert  Fulton's  death,  in  1815,  measures 
were  taken  to  open  through  a  street  from  the  East  River  to 
the  North  River  to  be  called  by  his  name.     About  this  time 


-J 
;^ 

^: 
o 

< 

K 
n 


PLATE    XXII 


PEMBROKE    TABLE,     SHERATON 
INFLUENCE 


PLATE    XXIV.      SEWING    STAND,     SHERATON 
INFLUENCE 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  39 

Phyfe  acquired  the  house  directly  across  from  his  sales- 
shop,  so  that  when,  in  1816-1817,  Partition  and  Fair  streets, 
the  same  thoroughfare  running  east  and  west  of  Broadway, 
were  rechristened  Fulton  Street,  and  the  houses  renum- 
bered, Phyfe's  addresses  were  Nos.  168, 170,  and  172  with  his 
house  at  No.  169  opposite.  The  frontispiece  to  this  volume 
is  from  a  contemporary  view  in  water  colour  of  the  warehouse, 
workshop,  and  salesroom  taken  from  the  dwelling  house. 
No.  172,  originally  the  dwelling,  brick  with  marble  trimming, 
wrought -iron  railing,  and  slate  roof,  is  a  typical  house  of 
the  time,  and  was  now  used  for  warehouse  purposes.  The 
shop,  with  its  show-windows  and  delicate  architectural 
detail,  is  similar  in  style  to  many  a  design  seen  in  the  con- 
temporary architectural  books.  In  the  original  drawing  the 
street  number  appears  distinctly  over  its  doorway,  while 
modest  signs  over  the  show-windows  bear  the  legend, 
**  Duncan  Phyfe,  Cabinet-maker."  The  third  building  with 
its  large  windows  was  the  workshop,  though  the  dignity  of 
its  architecture  would  suggest  a  much  more  important 
usage.  The  old  softly  coloured  drawing  is  a  very  charming 
example  of  architectural  rendering  of  the  period. 

Mrs.  Frances  Trollope,  visiting  New  York  in  1829  or 
1830,  saw  the  houses  practically  as  they  were  built  and  fur- 
nished between  1800  and  1825.  She  tells  us  that  there  were 
many  extremely  handsome  dwellings  on  Broadway  and  in 
other  parts  of  the  town.  According  to  her  description, 
the  drawing  rooms  were  furnished  with  consummate  taste, 
the  floors  heavily  carpeted,  the  tables  decorated  with  fine 
bits  of  porcelain  and  objets  d'art^  the  walls  hung  with  paint- 
ings.    Even  she,  who  viewed  the  United  States  through 


40  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

hostile  eyes,  was  forced  to  admit  the  great  beauty  of  the 
town  and  the  taste  of  its  inhabitants.  More  interesting 
still  is  her  statement  that  French  fashions  absolutely  pre- 
vailed, and  that  in  walking  down  Broadway  she  could 
scarcely  believe  that  she  was  not  in  a  French  town,  as  she 
noted  the  costumes  of  men  and  women  and  the  gaiety  of 
the  shops.  With  this  description  in  mind,  we  are  not 
surprised  to  find  the  artistic  influences  of  France  equally 
conspicuous  in  the  decorative  art  of  the  city.  This  un- 
adulterated admiration  of  New  York  is  of  decided  contrast 
to  Mrs.  Trollope's  comment  upon  other  places  which  she 
visited.  The  publication  of  her  book  caused,  in  the  United 
States,  such  a  furore  of  virtuous  anger  on  the  part  of 
the  Americans  that  international  relations  were  actually 
strained.  Her  cold  criticism  of  the  country  was  scathing, 
and  New  York  is  almost  the  only  city  where  she,  a  born 
cosmopolitan,  seems  to  have  felt  enough  at  ease  to  have 
allowed  her  appreciation  full  rein.  She  does  object  to  the 
omnibuses  and  their  unmannerly  occupants,  but  aside  from 
these,  the  people  and  their  homes  seemed  to  her  delightful. 
Fulton  Street  by  1817  had  become  one  of  the  main  cross- 
town  arteries  of  the  city's  traffic.  At  its  western  end  were 
the  landing  stages  of  ferries  to  New  Jersey  and  steamboats 
to  Albany,  at  its  eastern  end  the  ferry  to  Brooklyn.  The 
commercial  advantage  of  such  a  location  is  obvious.  Only 
one  block  from  Broadway  with  its  fashionable  shops  and 
smart  dwellings,  it  was  but  a  step  from  No.  170  Fulton 
Street  to  Paff's  antiquity  shop,  where  bric-a-brac  or  paint- 
ings could  be  chosen  to  combine  with  the  rich  mahogany 
of  the  furniture,  or  Vanderlyn's  gallery  visited  to  make 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  41 

arrangements  for  a  portrait.  Here,  then,  it  was  that  Phyfe 
lived  and  worked,  within  a  stone's  throw  of  St.  Paul's  and 
almost  within  sight  of  the  new  City  Hall,  while  before  his 
eyes  passed  the  varied  pageant  of  the  city's  life,  its  parades, 
its  fires  and  pestilences,  its  physical  changes  and  growth. 

The  fashions  of  the  day  were  too  strong  to  be  combated, 
and  as  the  years  went  by  Phyfe  found  it  necessary  to  drift 
further  and  further  away  from  the  original  distinction  of 
style  which  had  characterized  his  work.  His  earliest  pieces, 
derived  almost  wholly  from  Hepplewhite  and  Sheraton, 
are  worthy  of  a  place  beside  any  of  their  European  contem- 
poraries. The  severe  simpKcity  which  was  characteristic 
of  much  of  it  was  not  a  sudden  break  from  the  simple  but 
dignified  furniture,  Chippendale  in  origin,  which  was 
popular  in  the  post-Revolutionary  years  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  influence  of  France,  very  strong  in  New 
York,  and  noticeable  in  costumes  as  well,  led  him  early  to 
adopt  many  motives  of  Directoire  and  Consulate  origin, 
but  he  combined  them  skillfully  with  those  of  his  earliest 
practice,  still  keeping  the  delicate  scale  and  fine  finish  of 
the  latter.  As  this  French  influence  increased,  the  heavier 
forms  of  the  French  Empire  came  into  vogue,  and  in  response 
to  the  demands  of  his  clients,  by  this  time  numerous,  Phyfe 
was  forced  to  enter  into  a  style  of  work  which  was  much 
inferior  to  that  of  his  earlier  days.  Even  this  heavier  work, 
with  its  use  of  gilt  metal,  is  well  made  from  a  craftsman's 
point  of  view  and  possesses  a  certain  character  in  spite  of 
its  over-solidity.  The  still  further  change  which  came 
with  the  dark  ages  of  black  walnut  led  him  into  the  laby- 
rinth of  bad  taste  from  which  there  was  no  egress. 


42  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

In  1837  the  firm  name  was  changed  to  Duncan  Phyfe 
and  Sons,  in  1840  to  Duncan  Phyfe  and  Son,  and  in  1847 
he  sold  out  and  retired,  to  live  on  at  his  Fulton  Street  home 
until  his  death  in  1854.  Thus  his  life  bridged  the  years 
between  the  last  fine  period  of  artistic  effort  and  the  col- 
lapse of  taste  which  marked  the  nineteenth  century,  with 
all  the  political,  social,  and  economic  changes  which  this  ar- 
tistic transition  signifies. 

Although  certainly  holding  an  important  position  in  the 
commercial  life  of  his  time,  Phyfe,  due  to  his  retiring  dis- 
position, never  took  a  prominent  part  in  activities  other 
than  those  connected  with  him  in  the  most  personal  way. 
He  seems  to  have  led  a  quiet.  God-fearing  life,  wholly 
occupied  by  his  work  and  his  family.  All  the  recognition 
that  he  received,  expressed  in  generous  measure  by  his 
patrons,  came  to  him  by  reason  of  his  artistic  and  technical 
excellence.  The  only  recorded  oflScial  notice  of  his  position 
as  the  leading  cabinet-maker  of  his  time  is  his  employment 
in  connection  with  the  Erie  Canal  Celebration.  In  two 
commissions,  he  was  called  upon  to  undertake  work  which 
promised  to  be  preserved  among  the  memorials  of  that 
historic  occasion.  He  made  the  handsome  casket  in  which 
were  contained  the  glass  bottles,  filled  with  water  from 
Lake  Erie,  which  were  sent  to  Lafayette  as  a  souvenir  of 
this  great  event  in  the  commercial  history  of  New  York. 
For  the  same  occasion  he  made  tiie  handsome  little  cases 
in  which  the  gold  and  silver  medals,  which  were  struck  in 
commemoration,  were  enclosed  and  sent  to  the  distinguished 
mvited  guests  of  the  city  and  to  the  President  and  living 
ex-Presidents  of  the  United  States. 


PLATP:    XXV.      SEWING    STAND.      THE    SILK    BAG 
IS    MISSING 


PLATE    XXVI 


SEWING    STAND. 
IS    MISSING 


THE    SILK    BAG 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  43 

The  work  of  Phyfe,  judged  by  the  standards  applicable 
to  distinguished  utilitarian  art  of  all  times,  may  be  divided 
into  four  groups.  The  first  and  second  of  these,  which 
include  the  work  showing  Hepplewhite  and  Sheraton  in- 
fluence and  that  in  which  the  Sheraton  and  Directoire  in- 
fluences join,  we  may  consider  as  a  legitimate  part  of  the 
history  of  furniture  design.  The  second  and  third  groups 
of  the  later  American  Empire  furniture  and  of  the  black 
walnut  "Butcher"  furniture  need  not  be  considered  as  con- 
tributions of  any  value.  It  is  with  the  first  two  groups 
only  that  we  shall  deal,  dating  as  they  do  from  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  through  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  it  is  these  which  shall  be  considered  in  detail 
as  their  quality  warrants. 

By  the  time  that  Phyfe  had  become  permanently  es- 
tablished in  New  York  as  a  cabinet-maker,  all  of  the  best 
books  of  furniture  designs  had  found  their  way  to  the 
United  States.  Chippendale's  "Director"  must  have  been 
well  known  to  him  from  his  earliest  days,  if  only  as  a 
curiosity  of  a  superseded  taste.  At  the  time  when  he  was  first 
beginning  work  in  New  York,  the  Hepplewhite  "Guide" 
and  the  Sheraton  "Drawing  Book"  were  being  issued  and 
must  soon  have  appeared  in  the  city.  Certain  of  his  work 
which  we  know  was  done  in  1797  is  completely  Sheraton 
and  most  finished  both  in  design  and  execution,  while  many 
of  his  details  and  methods  of  treatment  are  so  closely  allied 
to  Hepplewhite  that  it  seems  reasonable  to  suppose  that  his 
very  earliest  work  was  based  upon  Hepplewhite  models. 

In  discussing  the  furniture  masterpieces  of  Duncan 
Phyfe  it  is  not  meant  to  suggest  that  every  piece  of  what 


44  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

we  call  Phyfe  furniture  was  made  by  his  own  hands.  We 
are  told  that  in  his  most  successful  latter  years  he  employed 
more  than  a  hundred  journeyman  cabinet-makers,  turners, 
and  carvers,  and  at  this  time  it  is  highly  probable  that  he 
did  none  of  the  actual  work  himself.  But  none  the  less, 
his  was  the  directing  mind,  his  were  the  designs,  and  his 
very  close  supervision  stamped  every  piece  with  the  re- 
fining mark  of  his  criticism.  Of  the  earliest  work,  much 
must  actually  have  been  made  by  him,  and  to  some  extent 
this  may  account  for  its  close  approach  to  perfection  in  its 
types,  and  the  same,  no  doubt,  is  true  of  much  of  that  work 
turned  out  before  1825. 

The  prices  paid  for  Phyfe's  work  indicate  that  he  was  in 
a  position  to  charge  adequately  for  his  furniture.  These 
well-to-do  people  who  were  his  patrons,  recognizing  the 
high  quality  of  every  piece  which  came  from  his  shop,  were 
willing  to  pay  in  full  the  fair  price  for  his  talents  and  labour. 
A  bill  rendered  by  Phyfe  for  furniture  delivered  to  Charles 
N.  Bancker,  Esq.,  Philadelphia,  may  be  quoted  in  full: 

1816 

Jany  4  Mr.  Bancker 

to  D.  Phyfe  dr. 

To  12  Mahogany  chairs  ©  $22 $264.00 

Sofa 122.00, 

Piere  table  265.00 

Pair  card  tables 130.00 

Packing 1900 

$800.00 
Discount  3  prct  for  cash    .     -      .       24 .  00 

$756.00* 

•It  was  well  for  Phyfe  that  Mr.  Bancker  did  not  pay  his  first  bill  promptly,  since  the 
mistake  in  subtraction  would  have  cost  the  cabinet-maker  twenty  dollars. 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  45 

1816 

Jany  4    To  12  Mahogany  chairs $264 .  00 

Sofa 122.00 

Piere  table 265 .  00 

Pair  card  tables         130.00 

2  chairs 44 .  00 

2  pr.  foot  stools 30.00 

Packing     .     .     . 2.00 

$857.00 

do 19.00 


$876.00 
Cr.  Stools 15.00 


$861.00 


The  value  of  the  dollar  of  about  this  time  was  approxi- 
mately the  same  as  in  our  currency  to-day,  but  the  average 
fortune  of  the  well-to-do  man  of  those  days  would  be  a  very 
small  part  of  that  of  a  man  in  the  same  position  to-day. 
Therefore  a  sum  of  ahnost  a  thousand  dollars  was  a  fair 
amount  to  pay  for  enough  furniture  to  furnish  partially  only 
two  rooms,  and  the  "Piere"  table  costing  two  hundred  and 
sixty -five  dollars  must  have  been  an  imposing  thing. 

There  is  another  little  fragment  preserved  with  this 
bill,  although  not  a  part  of  it.  It  shows  two  rough  pencil 
sketches  of  chairs.  One  of  them  has  a  lyre  back  with  dog 
feet  and  the  top  rail  carved  with  cornucopiae — a  combina- 
tion of  motives  unrepresented  in  any  of  the  examples  yet 
discovered.  The  second  has  the  back  made  up  of  crossed 
curves,  the  top  rail  carved  with  leaves  and  the  front  legs 
in  the  Empire  form  of  crossed  reverse  curves.  The  prices 
accompanying  the  first  chair  are  as  follows:  cane  bottoms. 


46  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

$22,  cushions  $3,  stuffed  $23;  for  the  second  chair:  cane 
bottoms  $19,  cushions  extra  $3,  stuffed  bottoms  $21. 

These  show  that  our  cabinet-maker  had  a  regular  scale 
of  charges  for  each  item  which  it  is  interesting  to  compare 
with  those  of  an  earlier  day.  In  "The  Journeyman  Cabinet 
and  Chairmakers'  (New  York)  Book  of  Prices,"  published 
in  1796,  are  found  itemized  charges  for  every  tiny  detail  of 
construction.  On  page  78  there  are  given  prices  for  three 
types  of  chairs — an  urn  back,  a  vase  back  stay  rail  chair, 
and  a  square  back  chair.  These  approximate  more  closely 
in  description  than  any  others  in  the  book  to  the 
types  of  chairs  made  by  Phyfe.  The  average  price  for  the 
labour  on  such  a  chair  as  one  of  Phyfe's  simpler,  carved  slat 
sort  would  have  been  about  fifteen  shillings  without  any 
mention  of  carving  on  legs,  slat,  or  upper  back  rail,  and  also 
exclusive  of  the  cost  of  material. 

With  the  question  of  Phyfe's  style — its  derivations  from 
European  sources  and  the  amount  of  his  own  original  con- 
tribution— it  is  better  to  deal  in  connection  with  the  actual 
examples  of  his  work,  and  this  will  be  done  in  later  chapters. 
The  outstanding  general  consideration  of  his  work  as  a 
whole  is  the  fact  that  he,  as  the  artistic  heir  of  the  great 
English  cabinet-makers  of  the  eighteenth  century,  profited 
by  all  the  results  of  their  study  and  experience,  appropriated 
from  them — as  they  in  their  turn  had  taken  from  their 
predecessors  and  contemporaries — what  methods  and  mo- 
tives of  construction  and  decoration  appealed  to  him,  and 
with  this  fund  of  the  traditional  elements  of  his  art  he 
created  a  style  of  his  own,  full  of  the  spirit  of  his  time, 
influenced  under  intelligent  and  loving  control  by  con- 


PLATE    XXIX.      DROP-LEAF    TABLE,     URN     PEDESTAL 


PLATE    XXX.      SEWING    AND     WRITING    STAND 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE 


47 


temporary  taste  and  usage.  His  achievement  lies  in  thus 
carrying  on  the  ancient  tradition  a  step  further  than  it  had 
seemed  destined  to  go,  and  in  harmonizing  it  with  the 
changing  taste  of  early  nineteenth -century  New  York. 

By  the  same  token,  his  importance  to  us  to-day  lies  in  the 
fact  that  in  him  came  to  an  end  this  fine  tradition  which 
disappeared  when  the  aesthetic  interests  of  the  civilized  world 
suffered  eclipse  by  the  industrial  revolution  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  For  a  forward  movement  in  the  art  of  cabinet- 
making,  this  period  would  seem  to  be  the  point  of  departure. 
Just  as  the  architecture  of  the  early  republic  marked  the 
end  of  a  great  tradition  to  which  it  is  not  impossible  to  re- 
turn, so  this  early  repubhcan  furniture  of  Phyfe,  which 
marked  the  end  of  a  parallel  tradition  in  decorative  or 
utilitarian  art,  may  well  form  a  basis  for  further  develop- 
ment, not  by  unimaginative  reproduction,  but  by  observing 
his  method  of  study  and  work  which  is  full  of  integrity  and 
the  finest  ideals  of  the  art  and  craft  of  furniture-making, 
based  upon  the  traditions  which  had  come  down  to  him  as 
the  heir  of  the  great  cabinet-makers  of  the  end  of  the  eight- 
eenth century. 


III|II"III|||||II|IIIIII1|I|IIII|I|'M'IIIII|II'JIU1.S|II|I|IIMI|IIIH 


III 

THE  DISTINCTIVE  QUALITY  OF 
DUNCAN  PHYFE 

The  distinctive  quality  of  Duncan  Phyfe,  like  that  of  the 
great  eighteenth-century  cabinet-makers,  results  from  the 
combination  of  a  number  of  elements  which  are  treated  in 
ways  characteristic  of  his  methods  of  design  and  execution. 
To  arrive  at  a  full  appreciation  of  his  work  it  is  necessary 
to  analyze  the  elements  of  his  style,  determining  just  what 
are  their  origins  and  how  his  use  of  them  records  his  personal 
treatment  in  which  his  affection  for  his  work  and  the  con- 
sistency of  his  taste  were  the  ultimate  cohesives.  Such  an 
analysis  holds  also  the  suggestion  of  a  way  in  which  modern 
cabinet-makers  and  designers,  basing  their  work  upon  tradi- 
tional motives,  of  which  Phyfe  appropriated  but  a  com- 
paratively small  number,  may  develop  equally  personal  styles 
of  their  own. 

Phyfe,  for  several  reasons,  is  the  only  early  American 
cabinet-maker  to  whom  may  be  deJBnitely  attributed  a  large 
group  of  pieces.  To  Savery  of  Philadelphia  and  to  Goddard 
in  Rhode  Island,  the  attribution  of  a  number  of  pieces  is 
made  upon  the  basis  of  similarity  to  one  or  two  authentically 

48 


3 


PI 


n  L,    r 


DETAILS    OK    SOFA    ARMS    AND    LEGS.     CARVED    PANELS    FROM    SOFAS    AND    FROM    CHAIR-BACKS 


FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES       49 

documented  examples  of  their  work.  To  Phyfe,  however, 
a  very  large  nmnber  of  documented  articles  of  furniture  are 
ascribed,  and  such  attribution  is  strengthened  by  a  very 
marked  consistency  of  important  characteristics. 

The  elements  of  Phyfe's  style  fall  into  two  groups.  The 
first  of  these  is  the  furniture  design  as  a  whole,  its  proportion 
and  line.  Both  of  these  are  strikingly  characteristic.  The 
second  element  is  that  of  the  decoration  which  he  employed, 
a  characteristic  second  in  importance  only  to  the  general 
design  as  a  guide  for  the  amateur  to  identify  Phyfe  furniture. 
Less  important  are  the  materials  used  and  the  furniture 
forms  themselves.  A  review  of  these  elements  will  show 
that  there  is  a  consistent  feeling  for  certain  proportional 
relations  and  certain  combinations  of  line;  that  the  decora- 
tive elements  limited  by  taste  are  few  in  number  but  com- 
bined in  many  ways;  that  the  furniture  forms  do  not  include 
every  piece  of  furniture  but  are  restricted  to  those  which 
experience  had  shown  could  best  be  treated  in  the  personal 
style  which  Phyfe  was  developing.  The  materials,  too, 
which  he  used  are  carefully  chosen  for  certain  qualities  of 
colour  or  texture  which  are  maintained  at  the  same  high 
standard  in  most  of  his  early  work. 

The  analysis  of  his  proportion  is  diflScult.  Its  general 
effect  is  that  of  an  exquisite  balance  between  vertical  and 
horizontal  structural  members.  In  his  design  one  sees  a 
very  strong  sense  of  structural  integrity  and  economy  in 
construction.  In  legs  of  tables,  chairs,  and  sofas,  the  sup- 
porting effect  is  frequently  emphasized  by  reeding  or  carving 
which  carries  the  eye  in  the  proper  supporting  directions 
up  and  down.     These  vertical  supports  are  reduced  to  the 


50  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

smallest  dimensions  commensurate  with  complete  stability, 
showing  that  economy  of  material  which  is  indicative  of  the 
most  developed  forms  of  structural  art.  The  horizontal 
elements,  heavier,  of  necessity,  than  the  vertical,  are  pro- 
portioned to  the  whole  height  of  the  piece  in  much  the  same 
manner  as  are  the  entablatures  of  the  classic  orders  of  archi- 
tecture. Thus  in  a  small  card  or  console  table  the  skirting 
is  shallow,  its  lightness  emphasized  by  veneered  borders  or 
tiny  bead  moulding  at  the  bottom,  its  whole  depth  happily 
proportioned  to  the  total  height  of  the  piece.  In  a  library 
or  dressing  table — two  variations  of  the  same  problem — 
where  it  is  necessary  for  utilitarian  reasons  to  introduce  one 
or  more  drawers  which  require  a  deepening  of  the  skirt,  the 
supports  are  either  made  heavier,  proportionately,  or  are 
coupled  at  the  ends  to  suggest  greater  strength. 

The  proportions  which  Phyfe  found  pleasing  in  his  earlier 
pieces  are  those  suggested  by  the  designs  of  Adam  and 
carried  on  by  Hepplewhite,  Sheraton,  and  the  French  cabi- 
net-makers of  the  Directory  and  the  Consulate.  Even 
more  than  do  these,  Phyfe  observes  integrity  of  structure 
based  upon  architectural  lines,  and  his  furniture  shows 
fewer  lapses  from  just  proportional  relations  than  that  of 
his  famous  predecessors  while  confessing  in  many  cases  an 
increased  lightness  and  refinement. 

The  structural  curves  which  Phyfe  employed  show  his 
real  freedom  in  design.  They  are  all  fine,  firm,  freehand 
curves,  which,  while  in  many  cases  giving  the  effect  of 
lightness,  at  the  same  time  suggest  adequate  and  solid 
support.  His  reverse  curves,  which  occur  both  in  chair 
and  table  legs,  have  as  convincing  a  strength  as  any  of  the 


^ 

J 

! 

aHHHHp 

i 

'^? 

PLATE    XXXII.      CARD    TABLE    WITHOUT    SKIRTING 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  51 

fine  cabriole  legs  of  the  Chippendale  period.  The  hori- 
zontal curves  of  table  tops,  chair  seats,  sofa  seats  and  arms 
are  often  so  slight  as  to  escape  detection,  but  they  do  add 
much  to  the  flowing  grace  of  the  whole  composition.  One 
detail  which  is  much  remarked  is  the  very  subtle  curve 
found  on  the  longer  centre  leaf -portions  of  the  so-called 
"clover-leaf"  table  top.  (Plates  XX  and  XXII.)  Here 
it  is  found,  by  laying  a  straight  edge  along  the  edge  of  the 
table,  that  the  long  line,  which  appears  to  be  straight,  is  in 
reality  a  gentle  continuous  curve.  This  is  a  feature  not  noted 
in  any  other  American  cabinet-maker's  work  of  the  period 
and  may  be  taken  as  a  Phyfe  characteristic.  None  of  his 
curves  would  seem  to  be  geometrical.  All  appear  to  be  free- 
hand lines  based  upon  geometrical  ones,  but  not  drawn  me- 
chanically. The  difference  between  these  two  sorts  of  curve 
is  that  which  distinguishes  the  curve  of  a  bent  steel  rod  from 
a  curve  of  lead.  We  search  in  vain  the  "Guide"  of  Hepple- 
white  and  the  "Drawing  Book"  of  Sheraton  for  a  suggestion 
of  the  characteristic  line  which  is  found  in  practically  every 
chair  back  of  Phyfe's  best  periods.  In  them  the  line  of  the 
back  posts  and  the  back  legs  does  not  form  the  same  con- 
tinuous, unbroken  curve.  For  this  treatment  we  turn  to 
France,  and  in  the  chairs  executed  during  the  Directory  and 
early  Consulate  we  have  not  only  this  treatment  of  the  back 
posts  and  legs  but  also  the  methods  suggested  for  many 
details  of  decoration.  Among  the  chairs  executed  by  Jacob 
Freres,  78  rue  Meslee,  Paris,  between  1797  and  1803,  are 
several  which  contain  the  germ  both  of  Phyfe's  chair  design 
and  of  his  decorative  methods.  Although  it  is  unlikely 
that  Phyfe  actually  ever  saw  a  Jacob  chair  (though  some  of 


52  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

this  furniture  may  well  have  been  brought  to  New  York)  he 
certainly  shared  with  them  the  models  and  published  de- 
signs from  which  each  developed  his  style. 

That  Phyfe  correctly  interpreted  the  artistic  spirit  of  his 
time  is  shown  by  this  handling  of  proportion  and  line.  The 
whole  artistic  expression  of  the  age  tended  toward  delicacy, 
refinement,  and  attenuation.  Not  only  in  the  proportions 
of  the  furniture,  but  in  those  of  the  architecture  of  the  day 
as  well,  the  tall,  slim,  vertical  element  was  employed.  The 
classic  orders  were  attenuated,  the  columns  stretched  out, 
the  entablatures  lightened.  Even  in  women's  dress  this 
tendency  is  seen — the  long,  high-waisted  skirt  surmounted 
by  a  tiny  bodice.  This  attenuation  was  indeed  a  response 
to  some  unspoken  demand  of  the  time,  one  of  those  details 
which  only  the  psychology  of  taste  may  explain,  if  it  can. 

The  decorative  methods  and  motives  of  Phyfe's  design 
form  the  second  important  element  by  which  his  work  is 
distinguished.  The  methods  of  decoration  include  carving, 
turning,  veneering,  reeding,  and  inlay.  There  is,  too,  a 
very  occasional  use  of  brass  in  his  best  work,  although  this 
is  much  more  characteristic  of  his  later  periods.  The  care- 
fully chosen  woods  which  he  used,  either  in  solid  planks  or 
in  veneers,  were  decorative  elements  in  themselves. 

Carving  is  the  most  intrinsically  fine  decorative  method 
found  in  this,  as  in  every  other,  furniture.  The  treatment 
of  the  various  motives  is  characteristic  and  is  quite  consis- 
tent in  the  different  places  where  it  occurs.  It  is  thus  a  good 
guide,  and  for  this  reason  we  shall  consider  all  of  the  carved 
decoration  which  is  found  on  Phyfe's  furniture  of  his  good 
periods. 


H 


i 


m 


/j^iM^A-j/aar 


FOUR    HE DP 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  53 

While  there  is  no  order  of  precedence  in  the  consideration 
of  these  carved  decorative  motives,  it  is  best  to  examine 
first  that  decoration  which  is  appHed  to  the  supporting  struc- 
tural members  such  as  chair,  table,  and  sofa  legs,  and  ped- 
estals of  stands  and  tables.  These  may  best  be  arranged  in 
the  form  of  a  descriptive  list. 

Acanthus.  The  most  generally  used  decorative  detail 
in  Phyfe  work.  Found  on  the  upper  side  of  curved  legs  of 
pedestal  tables,  the  urn-shaped  members  of  turned  pedestals 
and  bed-posts,  the  fronts  of  chair  legs,  the  column  and  post 
supports  of  tables,  the  outer  edges  of  the  legs  of  benches, 
and  in  one  case  on  the  tall  legs  of  a  console  table.  It  is  also 
used  on  the  lyres  of  pedestal  tables  and  chair  backs,  tables, 
sofas,  and  piano  trestles.  The  acanthus  is  combined  in  all 
of  these  members  with  various  other  details.  The  most 
usual  combination  shows  delicate  reeding  appearing  from 
under  the  acanthus  leaf  and  completing  the  decoration  of 
the  member.  In  the  round  posts  and  urns  the  vertical 
acanthus  leaves  completely  surround  the  circumference 
and  are  superimposed  over  a  plain  leaf.  The  leaf  seldom 
occurs  in  panels  but  usually  projects  beyond  the  main  sur- 
face of  the  wood.  The  carver's  technique  employed  by 
Phyfe  is  consistent.  The  leaf  differs  from  the  acanthus 
employed  in  classical  decoration,  which  forms  the  basis  of 
the  details  shown  in  the  eighteenth -century  design  books. 
Phyfe's  acanthus  is  simplified  by  the  wood-carver's  tech- 
nique into  a  series  of  rounded  grooves  and  ridges.  The  de- 
pression seems  to  have  been  made  with  one  curved  carving 
tool.  This  is  flanked  by  two  very  narrow  and  shallow  de- 
pressions from  which  the  raised  ridge  rounds  up.     The 


54         FURNITURE   MASTERPIECES 

method  is  not  very  different  from  that  in  the  nulling  found 
in  Chippendale  work.  A  raised  tapering  ridge  runs  up 
the  whole  centre  of  the  leaf,  simulating  the  central  vein  of 
the  natural  form. 

This  acanthus  of  Phyfe  is  very  different  from  that  found 
in  design  books,  on  Adam  furniture  or  on  that  of  the  French 
earlier  eighteenth-century  furniture,  which  are  all  more 
closely  related  to  the  acanthus  of  classic  architectural  deri- 
vation. It  partakes  much  more  of  the  Directoire  feeling 
which  was  no  doubt  affected  by  the  flatness  of  the  popular 
water-leaf  ornament  of  Egyptian  and  Greek  suggestion. 
The  drawings  in  Plates  B,  C,  and  D  show  this  typical  leaf 
decoration. 

Dog's  Foot.  This  occurs,  so  far  as  we  know,  only  on 
the  front  legs  of  chairs  on  benches  and  on  tables.  It  was  not 
used  very  frequently.  In  this  motive  the  dog's  foot  is  real- 
istically modelled  and  the  hair  on  the  leg  is  suggested  by  small, 
irregular,  curved  grooves.  This  motive  always  finishes  the 
leg  at  the  bottom  but  runs  into  some  more  conventional 
finish  at  the  top.  In  one  console  table,  the  upper  three 
fifths  of  the  legs  are  carved  with  acanthus.  In  the  legs  of 
the  lyre-back  chair  it  joins  into  a  rectangular  portion  the 
face  of  which  is  treated  with  a  narrow  panel.  The  signi- 
ficant detail  in  the  modelling  of  the  foot  is  that  the  two  out- 
side toes  are  much  subordinated  to  and  drawn  back  from 
the  two  middle  ones.     (Plate  D,  Fig.  7.) 

Water  Leaf.  This  delicate  ornament  decorates  the 
tiny  urn-shaped  member  at  the  base  of  some  of  the  earlier 
chair  backs  or  below  the  small  reeded  baluster  of  sofa  arms. 
(Plate  A,  Fig.  3.) 


PLATE    XXXIII.      SEWING    AND     WRITING    STAND 


PLATE    XXXIV.      DROP-LEAF    TABLE 


PLATE  XXXV.     CARD   TABLE,   URN   PEDESTAL 


PLATE    XXXVI.      CARD    TABLE    WITH    FLUTED    DRUM 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  55 

Leaf  and  Dart.  A  simplified  form  of  this  occurs  on  the 
smaller  mouldings  of  sofa  arms  and  bed-posts.  (Plate 
C,  Figs.  1,  2,  3.) 

Palm  Leaf.  An  adaptation  of  the  Egyptian  palm-leafed, 
bell-shaped  capital  is  the  form  found  on  the  top  of  practically 
all  the  bed-posts.  The  leaves,  slightly  carved,  are  merely 
suggested,  with  little  or  no  modelling.     (Plate  C,  Figs.  1-4.) 

Lion's  Foot.  The  fine  brass  feet,  in  the  form  of  lions' 
paws,  which  finish  most  of  the  table  legs,  were  varied  some- 
times by  carved  wood  lions'  feet,  which  cannot  be  considered 
a  wholly  successful  substitution.  In  later  work,  the  lion's 
foot  and  leg  are  used.     (Plates  XXX,  and  D,  Fig.  9.) 

Lion's  Foot  and  Eagle's  Wing.  In  Plate  XVI  is  seen 
a  sofa  whose  legs  are  composed  of  the  lion's  foot  combined 
with  the  eagle's  wing.  It  was  a  feature  frequently  found  in 
later  American  Empire  furniture,  but  never  with  such 
pleasing  effect  as  in  the  sofa  illustrated,  where  all  the  other 
decoration  is  restricted  to  reeding  and  panelling,  which 
enhances  the  carving  of  the  legs. 

Rosettes.  Sometimes  rectangular,  or  octagonal,  some- 
times circular,  the  rosettes  are  conventionalized  forms  which 
require  no  comment.  They  occur  at  the  crossing  of  the 
reeded  members  of  chair  backs,  on  the  corner  blocks  of 
tables,  and  on  lyres.     (Plates  B,  Fig.  6,  and  D,  Fig.  3.) 

Rope.  The  rope  motive  is  rarely  used.  It  does  occur 
between  mouldings  on  the  upper  side  of  curved  table  legs 
and  on  the  outside  edges  of  lyres  which  have  the  acanthus 
on  their  faces.  It  is  used  also  on  torus  mouldings  of  the 
bases  of  table  posts.     (Plates  B,  Fig.  6,  and  D,  Fig.  8.) 

Fluting.     The  fluting  is  well  placed  when  it  is  employed 


56  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

on  the  edges  of  the  platforms  of  pedestal  tables,  the  backs 
of  sofas,  or  the  cylindrical  drums  of  turned  table  pedestals 
or  bed-posts.     (Plates  A,  Fig.  3,  and  XL.) 

Whorled  Fluting.  This  detail  occurs  on  the  bulbous 
member  near  the  base  of  certain  table  supports.  The  flutes 
are  not  so  sharp  as  when  straight  and  parallel  and  the  efiFect 
is  more  nearly  that  of  grooving.  (Plates  XLIII,and  D,Fig.  5.) 

Lion  Mask.  Carved  in  wood,  the  lion  mask  is  found 
on  table  bases,  at  the  crossing  of  the  reversed  curves  of 
Empire  sofas,  and  at  the  corners  of  one  high-post  bedstead. 
In  brass  it  is  used  in  the  same  position  on  chairs  and  sofas, 
but  these  brasses  were,  of  course,  not  made  by  Phyfe  and 
were  probably  imported.     (Plates  XVII  and  LV.) 

This  completes  the  list  of  carved  decoration  on  the  sup- 
porting members  of  the  furniture  of  the  good  periods. 
Other  carving  occurs  in  panels  which  are  framed  either  by 
one  or  two  delicate  reed  mouldings  or  by  narrow  flat  band- 
ing. The  carved  panels  fall  into  two  groups:  the  larger 
ones,  which  are  found  on  chair  and  sofa  backs;  and  the 
smaller  ones,  which  decorate  table  skirtings.  These  panel 
designs  may  be  studied  in  the  plates  of  details. 

Cornucopia.  Two  crossed  cornucopise,  tied  by  a  bow- 
knot  of  ribbon.  From  their  mouths  issue  heads  of  wheat, 
laurel  leaves,  and  fruit.  The  cornucopise  are  carved  with  a 
spiral  banding.     (Plates  XVII  and  A,  Fig.  4.) 

Laurel.  Crossed  branches  of  laurel  made  into  a  sym- 
metrical design.     (Plates  XVII  and  A,  Fig.  8.) 

Oak  Leaves.  A  slightly  conventionalized  branch  of 
oak  leaves  fills  the  top  panel  of  one  of  the  chairs.  (Plates 
IV  and  A,  Fig.  2.) 


TADI.  K     LEGS     AND     SUPPORTS     AM)     A     PANEL     I'lioM     A     TABLE     BASE 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  57 

Drapery  Swags.  A  double  swag  of  drapery  is  caught 
up  in  the  centre  by  a  bow-knot  of  ribbon  and  a  cord  from 
which  two  tassels  depend.  The  ends  of  the  drapery  are 
fastened  at  points  and  fall  in  folds.  The  edge  of  the  drapery 
has  a  delicate  indication  of  fringe.  (Plates  XII  and  A, 
Fig.  5.) 

Wheat  Ears.  A  group  of  ten  wheat  ears  and  leaves, 
crossing  in  the  centre,  symmetrically  arranged  and  tied  by 
a  bow-knot  of  ribbon  whose  ends  follow  the  symmetrical 
arrangement  of  the  ears.     (Plates  XII  and  A,  Fig.  6.) 

Thunderbolts.  Five  crossed  "thunderbolts,"  arranged 
symmetrically  and  tied  by  a  bow-knot  of  ribbon.  (Plate 
XIV  and  A,  Fig.  7.) 

Trumpets.  Two  small  crossed  horns  or  trumpets  tied 
with  a  bow-knot  of  ribbon  are  found  in  a  panel  on  one  piano 
base. 

More  limited  in  subject  are  the  small  panels  which  are 
found  on  table  skirtings. 

Drapery  Swags.  Reduced  adaptations  of  the  double 
drapery  swags  of  the  larger  panels  occur  as  a  central  me- 
dallion on  the  skirt  of  card  tables.  Here  the  whole  is  com- 
pressed into  short  space,  the  bow-knot  catches  the  fringed 
drapery  in  the  centre,  and  one  or  two  cords  and  tassels 
depend  from  it.     (Plate  XLV.) 

Prince  of  Wales  Feathers.  The  three  feathers, 
heraldic  device  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  fill  the  small  rec- 
tangular panels  above  the  reeded  legs  of  a  card  table.  Only 
one  example  of  this  usage  by  Phyfe  is  known.  (Plate 
XIX.) 

Leaf  Panels.     In  one  example,  a  dining-table   (Plates 


58  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

XXXIX  and  D,  Fig.  3),  a  rectangular  unmoulded  panel  on 
the  base  is  filled  by  four  acanthus  leaves  and  four  plain 
leaves  radiating  from  a  centre.  (Plate  XXXIX.)  A  similar 
design,  reduced,  occurs  on  the  base  of  the  drop-leaf  table. 
(Plate  XL.) 

There  are  certain  other  motives  in  which  carving  shares 
with  veneering,  turning,  or  cut-out  design  in  the  total  dec- 
orative efifect. 

The  Lyre.  The  lyre  is  one  of  Phyfe's  most  successful 
motives.  It  is  employed  not  only  in  chair  backs — ajoure,  to 
use  a  French  expression — but  also  in  sofa  arms,  in  table 
supports,  and  as  the  supports  of  dressing  glasses.  For 
chair  backs  and  sofa  arms,  the  woodwork  is  very  delicate 
and  the  carving  of  acanthus  very  subtly  and  plastically 
modelled.  The  strings,  either  four  or  five  in  number;  are 
of  brass  or  whalebone.  The  key  which  runs  through  the 
top  is  of  ebony.  In  the  crossed  lyres  of  pedestal  tables  the 
proportions  are  a  trifle  heavier,  while  as  end  supports  of 
library  tables  the  thickness  of  the  wood  lyre  frame  is  mate- 
rially increased.  For  variations  of  the  typical  lyres  see 
Plate  B  of  the  details. 

Chair  Slats.  The  best  chair  slats  are  those  in  which 
an  uncarved  medallion,  oval,  rectangular,  or  eight-sided, 
is  supported  on  each  side  by  carved  scrolls  or  groups  of 
leaves.  (Plate  B.)  In  some  of  these  the  little  medallion 
is  plain,  but  veneered  with  finely  grained  wood.  In  others 
it  is  a  panel  surrounded  by  a  narrow,  flat  border. 

Reeded  Cross-bars.  Chairs  showing  considerable 
Sheraton  influence  are  those  whose  backs  are  filled  by 
delicately  reeded  cross-bars.     Straight  diagonal  cross-bars 


ORTS 


A    PIANO    TRESTLE    AND    VARIOIS  DESIGNS    OF    TaBIE    POSTS    AND    URN-SHAPED    SUPPORTS 


PLATE    XXXVII.     SIDE    TABLE,    FOUR-POST    PEDESTAL 


PLATE  XXXVIII.   DROP-LEAF  TABLE, 
FOUR-POST  PEDESTAL 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  59 

are  of  two  types,  single-cross  and  double-cross.  A  small 
carved  rosette  marks  the  point  where  the  bars  meet.  There 
is  also  a  type  with  curved  cross-bars  which  meet  at  a  carved 
medallion.  The  reeding,  too,  differs  and  is  made  up 
either  of  three  reeds  close  together,  or  of  two  reeds — really 
half-round  fillets — separated  by  a  flat  channel.  (Plates  I 
and  II.) 

The  Turning  is  certainly  the  best  of  its  kind.  The  pro- 
files for  the  turning  are  as  well  designed  within  their  limi- 
tations as  the  carving  itself  and  show  free  adaptations  of 
the  usual  forms  of  base  mouldings,  necking,  fillets,  urns, 
and  balusters.  The  best  bits  of  turning  per  se  are  the 
typical  Phyfe  finish  at  the  bottoms  of  the  straight  reeded  legs. 
(Plates  XIX  and  A,  Figs  1,  3;  and  D,  Fig  1.)  On 
many  of  these  legs  the  reeding  ends  some  distance  from  the 
floor  and  the  turned  portion  below  is  very  delicately  swelled 
out,  then  contracted.  Here  again  the  Hepple white  and 
Sheraton  books  help  us  less  than  does  an  examination  of  the 
work  of  Jacob  Freres.  A  few  of  the  reeded  legs  show  an 
entasis,  although  most  of  them  taper  gently  on  a  straight 
line.  The  difficulty  of  doing  fine  free  turning  is  best  proved 
by  a  search  for  good  modern  turning,  a  search  invariably 
rewarded. 

There  are  also  delicate  little  turned  and  moulded  buttons, 
which  are  glued  over  the  ends  of  the  tenons  of  chair  backs 
and  rails,  where  they  come  through  the  posts  and  legs,  also 
on  sofa  arms  and  on  lyres. 

Reeding,  which  partakes  more  of  the  qualities  of  turning 
and  moulding  than  it  does  of  carving,  is  found  on  almost 
every  piece  of  Phyfe  furniture.     Its  use  contributes  largely 


60  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

in  emphasizing  the  slenderness  of  vertical  elements  and  the 
delicacy  of  horizontal.  Not  only  on  wood  but  on  marble 
table-tops  do  we  find  this  reeding. 

Veneering.  Certain  uses  of  veneered  decoration  may  be 
considered  as  typical  earmarks  of  Phyfe  work.  On  the  rec- 
tangular corner  blocks  which  occur  on  many  drop-leaf  tables 
(Plates  XX  and  XXI),  the  surface  is  veneered  by  a  small 
decorative  treatment.  In  some  cases  it  is  simply  a  rec- 
tangle of  brilliantly  grained  wood  surrounded  by  a  narrow 
border  of  the  wood  contrasting  in  tone  or  in  the  direction 
of  the  grain.  This  rectangle  is  varied  occasionally  in  two 
ways.  In  one,  the  upper  edge  of  the  rectangle  breaks  out 
into  a  semicircle,  giving  what  we  call  the  arched  rectangle. 
(Plate  LII.)  In  other  cases  the  corners  of  the  rectangle 
are  cut  off  by  quarter  circles  struck  with  the  corner  of  the 
rectangle  as  the  centre  of  the  arc.  (Plate  XXI.)  This 
beautiful  treatment,  so  unobtrusive  as  to  escape  notice 
except  upon  close  examination,  is  an  example  of  how  far  the 
love  of  his  work  carried  Phyfe  in  the  perfection  of  craftsman- 
ship. Only  a  craftsman  whose  affection  for  his  work  far  ex- 
ceeded any  desire  for  gain  or  showiness  could  have  spent  the 
time  and  energy  on  a  detail  so  comparatively  insignificant. 

These,  then,  were  the  design  and  decorative  motives  which 
were  comprised  in  Phyfe's  working  glossary.  In  using  them 
he  freely  changed  their  size  and  scale  to  adapt  them  cor- 
rectly to  the  problems  in  hand.  His  combination  of  forms, 
his  choice  of  decorative  method,  and  his  placing  of  ornament 
are  all  very  carefully  studied  to  produce  the  distinctive 
quahty  which  appealed  to  his  taste,  influenced  as  it  was  by  the 
taste  of  his  time.     His  fondness  for  beautifully  grained  woods 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE 


61 


led  him  to  emphasize  this  quahty  of  his  material  by  the 
treatment  of  veneer  and  by  the  reservation  of  many  broad, 
uncarved  surfaces  juxtaposed  to  relief  ornaments  in  panels. 
His  carving,  much  of  it  plastic  in  execution,  is  always  low 
in  relief  and  avoids  any  disturbance  of  the  general  lines. 
As  much  as  any  other  factor,  it  is  the  use  of  certain  dec- 
orative forms  which  gives  to  all  the  furniture  of  Phyfe's  best 
period  its  unusual  consistency.  His  style  is  a  transitional 
one,  judged  by  most  of  his  work,  and  seldom  do  we  find  such 
complete  harmony  in  the  combination  of  elements  which 
make  up  a  style  in  which  a  changing  taste  is  recorded.  The 
explanation  of  this  harmony  lies  entirely  in  the  discrimi- 
nation which  chose  so  carefully  from  various  styles  their 
most  desirable  motives  and  which  changed  and  adapted 
these  motives  to  use  with  a  feeling  for  scale,  for  placing 
of  ornament,  and  for  structural  unity  unusual  in  cabinet- 
makers of  any  period,  and  particularly  so  in  a  period 
when  all  the  tendencies  were  pulling  away  from  the  cultiva- 
tion of  a  discriminating  taste. 


IV 

THE  FURNITURE 

CHAIRS    AND    BENCHES 

Chair-making  in  the  eighteenth  and  early  nineteenth 
centuries  was  a  specialized  branch  of  craftsmanship,  dis- 
tinguished from  that  of  cabinet-making.  There  were 
journeyman  chair-makers  just  as  there  were  journeyman 
cabinet-makers  who  formed  the  fluid  mass  of  employed  la- 
bour upon  which  the  established  firms  depended.  Many  of 
the  contemporary  newspapers  contain  advertisements  of 
"fancy"  chair-makers  who  supplied  only  chairs  to  their 
patrons. 

Phyfe  was  both  a  chair-maker  and  a  cabinet-maker, 
athough  his  preference  seems  to  have  been  for  the  lighter 
forms  of  furniture  more  closely  related  in  construction  to 
chair-making  than  they  were  to  heavier  cabinet-making. 
His  chief  output  comprised  chairs,  tables,  and  sofas,  al- 
though in  a  later  chapter  will  be  taken  up  the  miscellaneous 
articles  which  he  made  for  special  purposes.  His  chairs 
are  of  few  types,  and  the  variations  of  these  types  are 
chiefly  marked  by  the  decorative  elements. 

62 


PLATE    XXXIX.      DINING -TABLE 

END      VIEW       (  U  E  L  O  W  )      SIDE      VIEW      (  A  B  O  V  E  ) 


PLATE    XL.      DROP-LEAF    TABLE.      END    AND 
SIDE    VIEWS 


m 


CQ 


K 


FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES        63 

The  type  of  chair  which  is  earhest  in  style,  if  not  in  point 
of  date,  is  that  in  which  the  Sheraton  influence  is  strongest. 
This  type  has  the  horseshoe-shaped  seat,  with  two  straight 
reeded  legs  in  front  and  with  back  legs  gently  curved,  con- 
tinuing the  Une  of  the  back  posts. 

In  this  type,  the  known  variations  are  as  follows :  The  horse- 
shoe seat  is  reeded  as  are  the  back  posts,  the  crossbars  of  the 
back,  and  the  front  legs  which  terminate  in  small  brass  hons' 
feet  below  the  characteristic  baluster  turning  at  the  bottom. 
The  two  diagonal  crossbars  are  reeded  and  an  oval  rosette 
marks  the  crossing.  The  upper  back  panel  is  carved  with 
the  "thunderbolt"  or  wheat  design.  (Plate  I.)  A  second 
variation  has  a  double-crossing  of  four  reeded  diagonal  bars 
with  two  rosettes.  (Plate  II.)  A  third  variation  difiFer- 
ing  sHghtly  from  the  others  retains  the  horseshoe  seat  with 
reeded  edge  and  the  same  curves  of  the  back  posts  and  top 
panel.  It  is  distinguished  by  the  employment  of  curved  bars 
in  the  back  edged  by  half-round  fillets  and  joined  by  a  small 
eight-sided  rosette.  Its  legs,  rectangular  in  plan  and  set  at 
a  45°  angle,  are  gentle  reverse  curves  with  the  fronts  carved 
in  acanthus.  They  end  in  brass  lions'  feet.  The  carved 
top  panel  of  the  back  has  the  laurel  pattern.     (Plate  II.) 

The  full  Directoire  influence  is  seen  in  the  easy,  flowing 
lines  of  the  second  type  of  chair.  The  decorative  elements 
which  are  combined  in  this  are  the  lyre,  the  dog's  foot,  the 
carved  slat,  the  acanthus,  reeding,  and  plain  panels.  There 
are  numerous  combinations  which  were  made — the  lyre 
back  with  dog's  foot  or  acanthus  legs,  the  carved  slat  back 
with  both  of  these  legs,  and  both  of  these  backs  with  moulded 
front  legs.     The  curve  of  the  back  posts  is  not  continuous, 


64  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

breaking  slightly  at  the  junction  of  the  seat  rails  with  the 
line  flowing  more  definitely  into  the  seat  than  into  the  back 
legs.  The  front  of  the  back  posts  and  upper  side  of  the 
side  seat  rails  are  reeded,  the  front  seat  rail  is  reeded  below 
the  loose,  upholstered  seat.  The  top  panel  of  the  back 
is  uncarved  but  veneered  with  elaborately  grained  wood, 
although  one  example  has  this  member  fluted.  The  front 
legs  are  cut  in  a  gentle  concave  curve.  The  lyres  and  carved 
slats  are  of  the  type  described  in  the  preceding  chapter. 
Small  turned  buttons  cover  the  ends  of  the  tenons  of  the 
front  seat  rail  and  the  top  panel  of  the  back. 

A  third  general  type  of  chair  exhibits  the  introduction  of 
Empire  influence  in  the  legs  which  are  composed  of  double 
reverse  curves,  crossed  in  the  centre,  plain  or  reeded,  and 
ending  in  brass  lions'  feet.  Of  this  type  two  arrangements 
of  legs  occur,  one  with  the  curved  legs  on  both  sides  joined 
with  a  turned  stretcher,  the  other  with  the  curved  legs  at 
the  front  and  the  usual  square  legs  at  the  back.  (Plate 
XIII.)  In  the  latter  the  stretcher  from  the  crossing  of  the 
curves  runs  back  to  join  a  stretcher  between  the  two  back 
legs.  The  top  back  panel  in  chairs  of  this  type  is  usually 
carved  with  laurel.  The  meeting  of  the  intersecting  curves 
of  the  legs  is  marked  by  either  a  turned  button  or  a  lion's 
mask.  The  backs  of  the  type  are  filled  with  either  curved 
or  diagonal  bars. 

These  are  the  three  general  types  of  chair  from  point  of 
view  of  form.  A  few  exceptions  occur,  however,  which  are 
simply  different  combinations  of  elements  included  among 
those  already  mentioned.  An  armchair  of  each  of  these 
three  types  is  illustrated.     The  first,  with  reverse-curved 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  65 

acanthus  legs,  reeded  horseshoe  seat,  curved  back  bars 
and  laurel  panel,  matches  a  similar  side  chair.  (Plate  III.) 
The  second,  with  concave  moulded  legs,  reeded  arms  and 
back  posts,  has  an  eight-sided  panel  in  the  centre  of  the  slat 
supported  by  carved  scrolls.  The  panel  is  surrounded  by 
a  flat  raised  band.  The  material  is  curly  mahogany.  (Plate 
B,  Fig.  8.)  The  third  armchair  has  the  crossed  reverse 
curves  at  the  side  joined  by  a  turned  stretcher.  It  has 
curved  back  bars  and  laurel  panel  at  top.  The  illustration 
of  this  chair  shows  also  a  footstool  made  as  part  of  the  same 
drawing-room  set  from  which  the  chair  comes.     (Plate  XI.) 

The  arms  of  the  first  and  third  types  are  curved  and  rest 
upon  turned  balusters,  in  one  case  reeded.  It  is  the  same  ar- 
rangement as  the  Phyfe  sofa  arm  and  is  Sheraton  in  deri- 
vation.    The  arm  of  the  second  type  of  chair  is  set  on  a  scroll. 

In  all  of  these  chaii-s  the  top  line  of  the  back  dips  down  in 
a  curve  which  adds  to  comfort  as  well  as  beauty,  while  the 
decoration  is  combined  in  many  ways  and  undoubtedly 
was  used  in  other  combinations  in  chairs  which  have  not 
come  down  to  us. 

The  little  window  benches  are  more  closely  related  to 
chairs  than  they  are  to  sofas.  The  arms  are  simply  reduced 
replicas,  in  line  and  detail,  of  the  chair  backs.  The  hand- 
somest one  is  that  with  the  laurel-leaf  pattern  in  the  top 
panel  above  the  curved  bars.  The  little  urn-form  at  the 
base  of  the  posts  is  carved  with  water-leaf  ornament  and 
the  legs,  ending  in  brass  lions'  feet,  are  enriched  by  the 
acanthus.  A  second  bench  has  no  carving  except  the 
small  rosette  at  the  crossing  of  the  back  bars,  while  a 
third  has  the  upper  panel  fluted   to  match  the  chairs  of 


66 


FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 


the  same  set.  One  very  fine  bench  rests  upon  the  dog  feet, 
its  rails  are  carved  into  panels  of  drapery,  and  its  seat  and 
arms  are  upholstered. 

A  number  of  chairs,  similar  in  form  to  the  second  type 
which  we  have  described,  were  made  in  New  York  with  a 
slat  entirely  carved  with  cornucopiae  or  fruit  and  flowers. 
So  far  as  we  know,  Phyfe  did  not  make  any  chairs  of  this 
sort,  at  least  in  his  best  period.  The  distinguishing  marks 
of  the  Phyfe  chairs  are  their  lines  and  proportion;  the 
presence  of  reeding  (in  his  later  chairs  reeding  was  at  times 
replaced  by  moulding);  the  gentle  sag  of  the  top  of  the  back; 
the  outward  splay  of  the  side  rails  which  are  never  parallel; 
and  lastly  the  decoration  by  carving,  reeding,  moulding, 
panelling,  or  turning,  in  his  accustomed  designs. 

The  material  is  always  mahogany,  in  some  cases  curly 
mahogany.  The  strings  of  the  lyre  are  brass  or  whalebone, 
the  key  handles  and  tips  of  ebony.  The  seats  are  either 
loose,  upholstered  ones  held  in  place  by  screws,  or  they  are 
caned.     The  latter  were  covered  by  loose,  squab  cushions. 

These,  then,  are  the  three  main  types  of  chairs  with  their 
variations  which  the  illustrations  will  present  more  clearly 
than  any  verbal  description. 


PLATE    XLlll.      LIBRARY    TABLE 


PLATE    XLV.     CARD    TABLE,   CROSSED    LYRE    PEDESTAL 


PLATE    XL  VI.      CARD    TABLE,     CROSSED     LYRE 
PEDESTAL 


THE  FURNITURE 


SOFAS 


The  sofas  are  closely  related  to  the  chairs,  which  they  fre- 
quently were  made  to  match — that  is  to  say,  certain  of  the 
forms  or  carved  decorations  found  in  the  chairs  are  repeated 
in  the  sofas.  In  the  sofas  we  have  practically  the  same 
three  types  seen  in  the  chairs,  although  in  this  case  they  are 
not  so  definitely  demarked  one  from  another. 

The  first  and  most  usual  type  is  Sheraton  of  a  form  much 
used  both  in  America  and  in  England  at  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  This  is  the  design  with  a  straight 
wooden  top  rail  decorated  in  some  way,  wooden  curved 
arms  resting  on  small  balusters,  wooden  front  and  side  rails 
straight  or  partly  curved,  and  six  or  eight  legs,  always  four 
in  front.     (Plates  XII  and  XIV.) 

In  the  Phyfe  sofas  of  this  group  the  top  rail  of  the  back 
is  panelled,  usually  into  three  rectangular  panels.  These 
panels  are  carved  with  typical  ornament — drapery  swags, 
"thunderbolts,'*  wheat,  or  fluting — and  are  surrounded 
with  one  or  two  half-round  fillet  mouldings.     The  top  edges 

67 


68  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

of  the  arms  which  continue  the  curve  of  the  back  are  reeded 
and  end  in  a  slight  scroll  which  turns  under  and  rests  upon 
a  small  baluster.  The  shaft  of  this  little  baluster  is  reeded 
and  the  urn-shaped  member  at  its  base  carved  with  leaf 
ornament.  The  arms  in  most  of  these  sofas  curve  slightly 
out,  then  in,  which  gives  them  an  inviting  air.  Some,  how- 
ever, come  straight  forward  at  right  angles  to  the  back. 

The  front  and  side  rails  of  the  seat,  which  form  a  con- 
tinuous frame,  are  reeded.  In  the  straight-armed  sofas,  the 
front  rail  of  the  seat  is  straight  and  covered  by  the  up- 
holstery; in  those  with  curved  arms,  the  front  rail  of  the 
seat  is  reeded,  not  covered  by  upholstery,  and  joins  the  side 
rail  on  a  wide  curve,  on  which  the  baluster  of  the  arm  is  set 
at  an  angle.  The  short  legs,  too,  are  reeded  and  are  usually 
turned  to  a  profile  with  a  slight  entasis.  The  bottom  mem- 
ber of  the  leg  is  the  slightly  bulging  turning. 

These  sofas  are  upholstered,  arms,  back,  and  seat,  or  are 
caned.  The  main  variations  of  this  type  are  those  resulting 
from  combinations  of  ornament  in  the  back  panels.  There 
are  examples  of  all  of  these  variations,  where  the  front  seat 
rail  is  covered  with  upholstery. 

Unlike  chairs  of  the  second  type,  that  showing  Directoire 
influence,  the  sofas  of  this  second  group  are  few  and  far 
between.  The  most  striking  example  is  that  with  twin 
lyres  in  the  arms  shown  in  Plate  XV.  Here  are  seen  several 
innovations.  The  top  is  of  figured  mahogany  in  one  long 
narrow  panel.  From  the  back  a  short  but  finely  sweep- 
ing curve  runs  out  and  joins  that  of  the  arms.  The  arms 
in  profile  resemble  the  lyre-back  chair,  with  plain  top 
panel  and  the  two  lyres,  side  by  side,  ajoure,  fill  the  space 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  69 

below.  The  lines  of  the  arms  sweep  down  into  that  of  the 
seat  rail.  The  legs  are  made  up  of  scrolls  in  cornucopia 
form.  Reeding  preponderates  in  the  decoration,  though 
a  little  fine  carving  occurs  on  the  lyres.  The  back  and  seat 
are  upholstered. 

Much  the  same  lines  of  seat,  arms,  and  back  occur  in  the 
sofa  in  Plate  XVI.  Here  three  plain  panels  fill  the  top 
rail,  while  arms,  seat,  and  back  are  upholstered.  In  the 
legs,  however,  is  seen  a  decided  Empire  touch,  made  up 
as  they  are  of  lion's  foot  and  eagle's  wing.  This  is  one  of 
the  most  graceful  and  distinguished  of  Phyfe  sofas. 

We  know  of  no  sofas  or  settees  carrying  out  literally  the 
lines  of  the  chairs  of  the  second  type.  They  may  not  have 
seemed  desirable  for  practical  reasons,  since  the  concave 
legs  on  the  chairs,  if  repeated  in  the  centre  of  a  sofa,  would 
project  in  front  of  the  seat  rail  and  interfere  with  com- 
fortable use.  These  other  two  solutions  are  much  better 
studied  than  such  a  chair-back  settee  would  have  been. 

The  third  type,  Empire  in  character,  is  represented  by 
two  treatments  of  the  same  scheme.  In  the  splendid 
drawing-room  suite  from  which  our  cane-seated  Empire 
chair  comes  is  the  handsome  sofa  shown  in  Plate  XVII. 
In  this,  the  upper  portion  reflects  the  general  Directoire 
lines  of  the  preceding  two  sofas,  but  the  legs  are  treated 
with  the  crossed  reverse  curves,  brass  lions'  heads  at  their 
crossing  and  brass  lions'  feet  at  their  base.  The  legs  and 
arms  are  reeded  and  the  back  and  arm  panels  are  carved 
with  laurel  branches  and  with  crossed  cornucopiae.  The 
back,  arms,  and  seat  are  caned  and  loose  cushions  were  tied 
over  them.     The  proportions  and  general  lines  are  very 


70  FURNITURE   MASTERPIECES 

fine,  the  only  point  which  can  be  criticized  being  the  junc- 
tion between  the  curved  legs  and  the  front  rail.  This  re- 
markable sofa  is  still  in  the  possession  of  the  family  for 
which  it  was  made  and  is  part  of  a  suite  <jomprising  also 
side  chairs,  armchairs,  footstools,  and  console  tables.  The 
little  settee  shown  in  Plate  XXIII  is  a  single  treatment  of 
the  crossed  curved  legs  whose  proportions  are  rendered 
heavier  for  support.  The  carved  panels  of  the  back, 
contracted  into  difiFerent  proportions  from  those  usually 
found,  are  all  from  designs  found  in  the  sofas  of  the  first 
type.  The  reeded  seat  rails  of  this  and  the  preceding  piece 
are  straight. 

These  sofas  show  the  approach  of  the  chair-maker  to  the 
more  ambitious  problem  and  indicate  clearly  how  much 
more  than  a  chair-maker  Phyfe  was.  The  relationship 
which  they  bear  to  the  chairs  is  proper,  but  the  new  problem 
is  met  on  its  own  ground  and  advantage  taken  of  all  its 
possibilities.  In  construction  great  care  is  shown,  the 
seat  supports  underneath  the  caning  are  gently  curved  to 
allow  for  the  elasticity  of  the  cane,  and  these  supports  are 
mortised  into  a  dove-tailed  groove  in  the  seat  rail,  a  re- 
finement of  construction  which  renders  easily  distinguish- 
able Phyfe 's  work  from  good  reproduction. 

From  these  sofas  and  chairs  we  may  be  able  to  draw  some 
conclusions  as  to  their  chronology.  In  those  of  the  Sheraton 
type  the  carved  panel  details  are  the  drapery  swags,  thunder- 
bolts, wheat  ears,  and  fluting.  In  the  most  characteristic 
Empire  chairs  and  sofas  we  find  the  laurel  used  practically 
always,  combined  with  cornucopiae  panels.  These  latter 
details  probably  succeed  the  War  of  1812  when  patriotic 


PLATE    XLVII.      SIDEBOARD     WITH     VENEERED 
CARVED.    AND    REEDED     DECORATIONS 


PLATE     X  L  I  X  .      lU  F  F  E  T 


PLATE    L.      SERVING     TABLE 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  71 

motives  were  much  in  vogue.  Of  French  origin,  these  mo- 
tives were  coming  over  at  about  this  time  and  \\'ith  the  pros- 
perous years  succeeding  the  war  these  two  decorative  mo- 
tives, one  symboHc  of  glory  or  victory,  the  other  symboHzing 
plenty  and  fruitfulness,  the  results  of  successful  war,  were 
popular.  We  know  that  one  of  the  suites  comprising  these 
details  was  made  about  1817. 

The  decorative  details  of  the  Sheraton  sofas  would  bespeak 
a  date  between  1800  and  1813,  when  combined  with  purely 
Sheraton  form.  However,  their  employment  on  the  small 
Empire  sofa  (Plate  XVIII)  would  suggest  that  Phyfe  felt 
their  quality  so  lasting  as  not  to  be  affected  by  fads  or  styles, 
and  he  has  retained  them  here.  We  may  conclude  that  it 
is  impossible  to  date  Phyfe  furniture  exactly  from  the 
decorative  elements  alone, but  only  from  a  combination  of  the 
furniture  form  and  decoration.  And  even  this  method  is 
not  wholly  satisfactory,  for  we  know  that  some  of  the  simple 
Sheraton  Pembroke  tables  were  made  as  late  as  1820.  It 
is  well,  therefore,  not  to  be  too  meticulous  in  dating  the 
furniture  of  his  good  periods,  but  rather  to  relate  its  changes 
purely  stylistically,  and  date  it  all  between  1800  and  1825, 
although  that  with  Empire  features  may  be  placed  after 
1813. 


VI 
THE  FURNITURE 

TABLES 

The  number  and  variety  of  Phyfe's  tables  are  so  great  as  to 
render  very  difficult  their  classification  into  groups  from 
which  there  shall  not  be  a  number  of  exceptions.  The 
uses  for  which  these  tables  were  made  are  many.  There 
are  card,  console,  and  library  tables,  dining,  serving,  and 
sofa  tables,  sewing,  dressing,  writing  tables,  and  candle- 
stands. 

In  general  structural  form,  they  fall  into  one  of  three 
types:  the  first,  with  legs  at  the  corners;  the  second,  sup- 
ported upon  a  pedestal  of  one  sort  or  another;  the  third, 
supported  at  the  ends.  They  differ  very  much  in  the 
shape  of  the  tops,  in  the  treatment  of  the  supporting  ele- 
ments of  legs  and  pedestals,  as  well  as  in  the  inclusion  of 
drawers. 

The  first  type,  the  earliest  stylistically  though  not  nec- 
essarily chronologically,  is  supported  on  straight  reeded 
legs.  It  includes  the  fine  Sheraton  card  tables  such  as 
those  illustrated  in  Plates  XIX  and  XX,  the  Pembroke 

72 


FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES       73 

table  with  reeded  legs  (Plate  XXII),  the  dining-tables 
such  as  that  in  Plate  XXIII,  and  the  game  table  (Plate 
XXI).  Here  we  have  simple,  straightforward  table  con- 
struction, carefully  studied  for  stability  and  use,  the 
proportions  beautifully  balanced  and  the  decoration  sup- 
pressed. The  legs  are  generally  reeded  and  end  in  the 
typical  turned  member  at  the  bottom.  The  skirtings  are 
veneered  and  have  a  narrow  border  whose  grain  runs  in  a 
different  direction  from  that  of  the  rest  of  the  wood.  The 
corner  blocks  are  either  veneered  or  carved  with  small 
panel  decoration.  The  tops  are  often  shaped  in  the  clover- 
leaf  pattern  and  the  edges  of  the  tops  are  not  often 
reeded. 

The  significant  points  for  attribution  are  the  construction 
details,  the  typical  carved  or  veneered  ornament,  the  turned 
member  at  the  bottom  of  the  reeded  legs,  and  the  subtle 
curve  in  the  clover-leaf  top. 

The  three  finest  tables  in  the  type  are  the  game  table 
in  Plate  XXI  and  the  card  tables  in  Plates  XX  and 
XIX.  The  game  table  exhibits  not  only  ingenuity  in  its 
arrangement,  but  great  beauty  of  line  and  proportion.  The 
removable  top,  baize-<;overed  on  one  side,  hides  a  backgam- 
mon board  sunk  below  the  surface.  The  points  are  inlaid 
in  ivory,  alternating  white  and  green,  and  little  ivory  sockets 
around  the  edge  receive  the  scoring  pegs.  A  small  drawer 
at  the  right  of  each  player  is  for  the  coimters.  Below  the 
central  portion  of  the  skirting,  between  the  drawer  fronts, 
is  concealed  a  chess  board  which  slides  out  and  is  placed 
over  the  backgammon  board,  whose  space  it  fits  exactly, 
lying  flush  with  the  top.     Nothing  could  be  simpler,  nothing 


74  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

more  perfectly  adapted  to  use.  The  corner  blocks  are  ve- 
neered with  the  small  rectangle  with  concave  corners. 

The  two  card  tables  are  purely  Sheraton,  the  one  with 
light  mahogany  veneer  on  the  skirt  enhanced  by  veneered 
blocks,  the  other  with  carved  central  and  corner  blocks,  the 
latter  with  the  Prince  of  Wales  feathers.  The  clover-leaf 
tops  show  the  subtle  curve  mentioned  as  a  Phyfe  character- 
istic. 

The  Pembroke  tables,  such  as  that  in  Plate  XXII,  con- 
tain one  drawer  whose  front  is  edged  by  a  half-round  fillet. 
The  corner  blocks  are  veneered. 

The  fine  dining  table  (Plate  XXIII) ,  is  enriched  only  by  a 
narrow  banding  of  dark  wood  at  the  bottom  of  the  skirt, 
this  banding  running  across  the  blocks  above  the  legs  in 
place  of  a  veneered  rectangle. 

A  variation  of  this  four-legged  type  of  table  is  seen  in  a 
pair  of  flap-leaf  console  tables  whose  corners  are  cut  off  at 
a  45°  angle,  the  legs  set  at  this  angle  and  composed  of  a 
reverse  curve  decorated  with  acanthus  joining  with  the 
dog's  leg  and  foot.  Medallions  above  are  carved  with 
rosettes,  while  the  central  block  has  a  panel  of  carved 
drapery  swags.     The  edge  is  not  reeded. 

The  second  type,  the  pedestal  table,  has  two  main  di- 
visions. In  one  of  these  the  pedestal  is  composed  of  a 
turned  central  support  from  which  curving  legs  spread  out. 
In  the  second  there  is  a  platform  which  the  curving  legs 
support,  and  upon  this  platform  rests  the  portion  upholding 
the  superstructure  of  the  table. 

Within  the  first  group  of  this  type  the  turned  support  is 
designed  in  several  forms,  the  most  usual  of  which  has  a 


PLATE     LI.      CHEVAL    GLASS 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  75 

large  urn-shaped  member  as  its  predominating  feature. 
The  urn  is  sometimes  plain,  more  often  carved  with  acanthus 
or  reeded.  The  base  moulding  about  the  urn  is  frequently 
carved.  Another  of  these  turned  shafts  (Plate  XXXVI)  is 
undecorated  except  for  a  broad  reeded  drum  near  its  base. 
The  legs — three  or  four — are  either  carved  with  acanthus 
and  reeding  on  their  top  surfaces  or  are  moulded.  The 
feet  are  lion's  paws,  usually  brass,  although  sometimes  of 
wood.  The  tables  with  this  form  of  base  include  drop-leaf 
tables  and  those  card  tables  with  three  legs,  with  or  without 
skirting,  containing  a  mechanism  by  which,  when  the  flap 
is  lowered,  the  rear  leg  swings  out  and  forms  with  the  other 
two  an  accurate  tripod  (Plate  XXXII) .  The  small  sewing 
stands  with  rounded  ends  are  often  supported  on  this  type 
of  base,  while  the  little  tripod  stand  with  tip-top  (Plate 
XXVIII)  is  a  rare  example  in  the  type. 

The  tops  are  curved  in  single  curve  or  clover-leaf  pattern. 
A  border  of  veneer  usually  surrounds  them.  The  edges  are 
sometimes  reeded,  the  skirtings  veneered,  and  in  the  drop- 
leaf  tables  the  corner  blocks — relict  of  the  straight-leg 
Pembroke — are  veneered  in  designs  and  finished  with  a 
delicate  turned  drop.  These  tables  are  among  Phyfe's  most 
characteristic  product.  This  type  includes  card  and  con- 
sole, sewing,  writing,  and  dining  tables,  such  as  those  illus- 
trated in  Plates  XXXIII  and  XXXV. 

In  the  second  group  of  the  pedestal  tables,  a  platform 
upon  which  vertical  supports  rest  is  upheld  by  curved  legs. 
This  group  must  be  subdivided  into  two  kinds.  The  first 
division  comprises  those  tables  whose  super-structure  is 
supported  upon  four  posts  which  rest  upon  the  httle  plat- 


76  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

form.  The  second  division  includes  the  tables  in  which 
crossed  lyres  act  as  the  immediate  support  of  the  portion 
above. 

Of  the  type  with  four  posts,  the  chief  variations  result 
from  dififerently  turned  balusters  which  follow  several  forms, 
such  as  those  shown  in  the  drawings  in  Plate  E.  The 
sides  of  the  platforms  are  either  plain,  panelled,  fluted,  or 
carved  with  a  rectangular  rosette  made  up  of  acanthus  and 
plain  leaves  radiating  from  a  centre.  These  tables  are  il- 
lustrated in  Plates  XXXIII  to  XLI,  and  include  sewing 
and  writing  stands,  drop-leaf  centre  tables,  side  tables  with 
a  flap,  and  dining  tables. 

The  lyre-base  tables  have  few  varieties.  The  one  in 
Plate  XL VI  has  the  rope  motive  on  the  tops  of  the  curved 
legs  and  on  the  edges  of  the  lyre.  The  second  one,  in  Plate 
XLV,  would  appear  to  be  from  Phyfe's  later  period.  The 
lion's  feet  and  legs  are  a  trifle  clumsy,  while  the  over- 
loading with  acanthus  deprives  the  lyre  of  much  of  its 
delicacy.  This  table  resembles  in  so  many  ways  the  work  of 
a  certain  Philadelphian  contemporary  of  Phyfe  that  its 
inclusion  would  be  confusing  without  definitely  mentioning 
it  as  a  late  piece  whose  attribution  is  chiefly  based  upon 
structural  details  not  part  of  its  stylistic  quality. 

The  last  general  type  of  table,  that  whose  supports  are 
at  the  end,  includes  library,  sofa,  and  dressing  tables.  The 
type  is  rare,  but  excellent  as  a  new  solution  of  the  problem. 

In  Plate  XLIII  is  shown  a  library  table,  supported  on 
coupled  colonettes  at  each  end,  from  whose  fluted  base- 
block  spread  out  two  legs.  The  top  contains  a  drawer, 
while  a  shelf  for  books  is  placed  below.     This  is  a  good 


PLATE    LIII.      HIGH-POST    BEDSTEAD 


PLATE  LIV.   FOUR  TYPES  OF  BEDPOSTS 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  77 

example  of  variation  of  proportion  in  studying  a  special 
problem.  The  thickness  of  the  skirting,  controlled  by  the 
depth  of  the  drawer,  is  related  pleasantly  to  the  whole 
height  of  the  piece.  The  decoration  exhibits  the  typical 
methods  and  designs.  The  whorled  carving  and  the 
acanthus  leaves  on  the  colonettes  are  similar  to  those  in  the 
pair  of  side  tables,  one  of  which  is  shown  in  Plate  XXXVII. 

Very  similar  to  this  is  a  man's  dressing  table  not  illus- 
trated. Here  the  interior  is  fitted  with  a  mirror  and  with 
compartments  necessary  for  toilet  articles  and  accessories. 
All  of  the  interior  cabinet  work  is  beautifully  done,  the 
edges  of  the  compartments  reeded,  and  Uttle  boxes  fitted 
into  the  divisions. 

Two  sofa  tables  (Plates  XLII  and  XLIV)  are  superb 
examples  of  absolutely  finished  workmanship.  The  ends 
of  one  are  supported  upon  a  lyre,  the  ends  of  the  other  on 
coupled  colonettes.  The  stretchers  in  both  are  beautiful 
and  dehcate;  the  veneering  on  the  drawers  and  around  the 
top  is  brilliantly  contrasting;  the  edges  are  reeded  and  the 
drop  leaves  curved.  These  are  both  exceptional  pieces. 
The  lyre  is  much  heavier  than  those  in  chairs,  sofas,  or 
tables.     It  is  carved  with  acanthus  and  its  edges  are  reeded. 

These  three  types  of  table  include  a  great  number  of 
variations  both  in  design  and  decoration.  They  introduce 
many  decorative  motives  unlike  those  on  the  sofas. 

In  all  of  these  we  see  the  careful  finish  of  the  construction 
which  would  ordinarily  not  be  found  in  furniture  of  the 
period,  and  the  introduction  of  the  tiny  details  in  veneered 
designs  which  are  seen  only  upon  careful  examination. 
This  careful  finish  bespeaks  more  than  the  qualities  of  a 


78 


FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 


good  workman;  it  marks  the  work  of  an  artist-craftsman 
whose  interest  and  love  were  in  his  work,  and  whose  com- 
pletely rounded  training  included  both  broad  design  and 
minute  detail  with  complete  technical  adequacy. 


vn 

THE  FURNITURE 

MISCELLANEOUS   PIECES 

The  large  number  of  miscellaneous  pieces  bearing  the 
mark  of  Phyfe's  handiwork  belies  the  statement  that  he 
did  not  do  case  furniture.  Certainly  he  did  many  pieces 
of  so-called  case  furniture,  but  these  were  probably  made 
on  special  order  to  go  into  rooms  where  his  tables,  chairs,  or 
sofas  had  delighted  their  owners  with  their  beauty  and 
their  livable  qualities. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  problems  which  Phyfe  had  to 
meet  occasionally  was  that  of  the  pianoforte.  Very  few 
of  these  survive.  The  one  illustrated  herewith  (Plate 
LII),  dating  from  about  1820,  contains  an  instrument  by 
John  Geib,  Inc.,  whose  work  in  New  York  began  before 
1800  and  continued  until  after  1825.  Phyfe  is  supposed 
not  to  have  made  piano  cases,  but  only  the  trestles  which 
supported  the  cases.  This  case,  however,  bears  so  many 
unmistakable  signs  of  Phyfe's  handiwork  as  to  leave  little 
doubt  that  he  made  both  case  and  trestle.  The  case  is 
veneered  in  brilliantly  grained  wood,  is  inlaid  with  brass, 
and  the  vertical  blocks,  which  divide  the  front  into  three 

79 


80  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

sections,  are  veneered  with  the  typical  arched  rectangle. 
Reeding,  too,  is  used,  and  carved  rosettes.  The  composi- 
tion of  the  front  of  the  case  is  well  studied.  It  is  divided 
into  three  sections,  the  two  to  the  left  lifting  up  and  dis- 
closing the  keyboard. 

The  trestle  is  designed  on  a  basis  of  Phyfe's  typical  mo- 
tives— the  urn,  the  curved  legs  with  acanthus  and  reeding, 
the  reeded  stretcher,  and  at  the  end  a  carved  flower  instead 
of  the  more  probable  lion's  head.  A  lyre  in  the  centre  sug- 
gests the  original  presence  of  pedals,  but  it  would  appear 
upon  examination  that  pedals  never  existed.  The  strings 
of  the  instrument  are  covered  by  a  thin,  hinged  wooden 
lid  painted  green  with  a  flower  border. 

Another  piano  trestle  (Plate  LV)  differs  in  detail 
from  the  first.  The  urns  here  are  carved  with  acanthus, 
the  stretcher  is  not  divided  into  two  parts  as  was  the  other, 
and  its  end,  where  it  mortises  into  the  block  below  the  urn 
is  treated  with  a  lion's  mask.  Its  proportions,  too,  are  lighter, 
since  it  probably  supported  a  smaller  case  without  pedals. 

The  little  sideboard  (Plate  XL VII)  and  the  serving 
tables  in  Plates  XLVII  to  L  are  consistently  Sheraton 
in  derivation.  The  sideboard  is  a  most  surprising  find — 
a  complete  piece  of  Phyfe  case  furniture  handled  in  masterly 
fashion.  Here  veneering  forms  the  chief  decoration  including 
arched  rectangles  with  borders  mitred  up  to  them,  veneered 
borders  on  the  drawers  and  around  the  top,  the  edge  bounded 
by  two  half-round  fillets  and  a  flat  channel,  the  reeded  legs 
topped  by  acanthus  leaves  and  finished  at  the  bottom  with 
the  typical  turning.  Surely  a  fine,  simple,  dignified  Httle 
sideboard,  worthy  descendant  of  Sheraton's  design. 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  81 

The  serving  table  and  bufifet  are  Sheraton,  too,  but  of 
simpler  forms  and  less  elaborate  decoration.  The  legs  are 
reeded  and  carry  up  to  the  top,  which  curves  out  over  them 
at  the  corners.  They  preserve  the  same  simplicity  as  do 
the  tables  of  the  first  type. 

The  cheval  glass  (Plate  LI)  makes  us  wonder  why 
Phyfe  did  so  few  of  these  graceful  articles  of  bedroom  fur- 
niture. He  did  dressing-table  glasses  of  tjbe  same  general 
character  although  more  carefully  decorated.  One  dressing 
glass  is  swung  between  lyres  turned  at  right  angles  to  its 
axis  and  rests  upon  a  base  with  three  drawers.  The  edges  of 
the  lyres  are  roped,  the  base  between  the  drawers  decorated 
with  little  turned  colonettes. 

His  beds  were  derived  both  from  Sheraton  and  Hepple- 
white  models.  The  one  shown  in  Plate  LII  has  four 
carved  posts,  although  some  of  them  have  only  the  two 
footposts  carved,  the  headposts  being  simply  turned 
pieces.  There  are  seven  different  known  designs  for  bed- 
posts, four  of  which  are  shown  in  Plate  C  of  the  drawings. 
The  decoration  includes  reeding,  acanthus,  water-le^f, 
drapery,  wheat-ears,  and  palmetto,  combined  in  various 
charming  ways.  One  handsome  bed,  not  shown,  has  a 
footboard  filled  with  cane  and  with  lions'  masks  at  the 
corners  of  the  heavy  posts. 


vin 

CONCLUSION 

Much  discussion  in  recent  years  has  centred  around  the 
*' humanities,"  the  related  study  and  cultivation  of  the 
languages,  literature,  history,  and  archaeology  of  Greece  and 
Rome.  It  is  the  conviction  of  their  value  as  a  moral  or 
intellectual  discipline  and  as  refining,  cultivating,  and 
humanizing  influences  which  has  led  their  supporters  to 
include  the  "humanities"  as  a  necessary  part  of  a  liberal 
education.  The  resultant  knowledge  which  such  studies 
give  creates  a  background  for  modern  life  and  a  sense  of 
values  that  are  diflScult  if  not  impossible  of  attainment  in 
any  other  way. 

As  a  part  of  a  hberal  education  to-day,  the  scope  of  the 
so-called  "humanities"  has  necessarily  widened  beyond 
the  original  limits,  and  in  the  new  sense  must  include  much 
of  the  literature,  history,  and  art  of  epochs  of  the  world's 
development  successive  to  the  times  of  classic  Greece  and 
Rome.  This  wider  application  of  the  term  may  justly  be 
employed  if  we  think  of  the  "humanities"  as  an  investi- 

82 


FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES       83 

gation  less  of  things  Greek  and  Roman  than  of  things 
secular  and  human. 

In  humanizing  any  period  of  the  past,  the  study  not  only 
of  the  contemporary  languages,  Hterature,  and  history  is 
important,  but  that  of  the  artistic  expression  of  the  time 
must  also  be  closely  related  to  them.  The  four  major  arts 
do  not  alone  suffice  to  tell  the  human  story  of  a  time  gone 
by.  They  indicate  frequently  the  highest  aspirations  or 
accompUshments  which  marked  the  summit  of  a  people's 
development.  For  the  more  true,  more  accurate  story, 
filled  with  human  interest  and  marking  a  high  average  of 
general  taste,  we  must  turn  to  the  decorative  and  utiU- 
tarian  arts  with  which  that  people  surrounded  themselves 
in  their  daily  life. 

We  may  learn  of  the  great  movements  of  races,  the  inter- 
national give-and-take  of  territory  or  riches;  we  may  fill 
in  this  knowledge  with  a  just  proportion  of  economic  detail 
and  of  religious  and  moral  influences;  but  to  round  out  the 
picture  of  a  particular  people  at  a  particular  time  we  must 
appreciate  the  intellectual,  artistic,  and  social  elements 
which  entered  into  their  daily  life,  which  influenced  them 
continually  and  responded  to  their  tastes  and  preferences, 
aesthetic  and  practical. 

The  study  of  the  finest  work  of  the  cabinet-makers  of  the 
past  thus  bears  a  distinct  relation  to  the  general  human- 
izing investigation  of  any  period  of  world  history,  and  the 
importance  of  such  study  is  in  direct  proportion  to  the  im- 
portance of  the  period  in  question. 

The  short  space  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  in  New  York 
which  we  have  striven  to  portray  was  certainly  one  of  the 


84  FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 

most  important  in  the  whole  history  of  the  city's  growth. 
It  was  marked  by  a  striking  increase  in  economic  pros- 
perity and  commercial  expansion,  a  growth  of  civic  con- 
sciousness and  pride,  a  vivid  interest  in  artistic  and  intel- 
lectual pursuits,  a  horizon  widening  from  that  of  a  pro- 
vincial town  to  that  of  a  metropolis,  with  the  emphasis 
upon  foreign  taste  and  foreign  ways  which  was  a  natural 
accompaniment.  The  War  of  1812  was  a  quickening  influ- 
ence in  the  direction  of  consolidating  this  civic  conscious- 
ness, as  it  was  in  binding  together  all  parts  of  the  Union. 
The  Constitution  had  weathered  its  first  real  storm  and  the 
poUcies  of  its  creators  were  justified.  The  economic  revival 
after  the  war  was  rapid,  and  the  city  and  nation  entered  upon 
a  fortunate  period  of  peace  and  prosperity. 

In  the  quahties  of  the  furniture  which  Duncan  Phyfe 
made  for  the  people  of  New  York  at  this  time  may  be  seen 
the  results  of  the  varied  influences  which  distinguished  the 
period,  not  only  in  the  city  but  along  the  whole  seaboard. 
The  demand  for  fine  craftsmanship  and  materials  arose 
directly  from  both  the  increasing  wealth  of  the  population 
and  the  artistic  appreciation  which  they  possessed.  The 
unanimity  of  taste  which  resulted  from  the  growth  of  a 
compact  metropolitan  society  is  reflected  in  the  consist- 
ency and  restraint  of  the  furniture  design  which  appealed  to 
them,  a  design  whose  simplicity  recalled  in  romantic  associa- 
tion the  glories  of  an  earher  republic,  that  of  Rome.  Their 
widening  horizon  is  shown  in  the  European  flavour  which 
permeates  much  of  this  work,  partially  English  in  response 
to  inherent  British  preferences,  but  French  in  many  ele- 
ments of  form  where  fashion  dictated.     The   intellectual 


PLATE    LV.     TRESTLE    FOR    A    PIANO 


PLATE    LVI.      WASHSTAXD 


OF  DUNCAN  PHYFE  85 

content  in  the  design  bespeaks  distinctly  an  appreciative 
taste  in  those  who  so  fully  felt  its  refinement  and  delicate 
subtlety. 

Thus  in  the  work  of  Phyfe  we  have  an  apposite  example 
of  how  closely  the  utilitarian  and  decorative  arts  are  bound 
up  with  all  the  other  phases  of  human  civilization  and 
progress.  His  work  was  a  development  of  an  old  tradition 
within  the  limits  of  which  his  own  art  advanced,  respond- 
ing to  many  contemporary  influences. 

This  tradition  had  continued  as  long  as  the  interest  of 
creative  minds  was  turned  in  its  direction,  but  with  the 
growth  of  scientific  investigation  in  the  nineteenth  century 
the  preponderant  interests  of  the  cultivated  public  and  of 
its  creative  minds  swung  away  from  artistic  creation  to  that 
of  scientific  development.  It  is  natural  that  the  great  in- 
dustrial revolution  of  the  nineteenth  century  should  thus 
have  diverted  to  itself  most  of  the  creative  energy  which 
for  many  centuries  had  given  expression  in  artistic  form  to 
a  part  of  its  power.  Robert  Fulton  and  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse 
are  examples  of  men  whose  lives  spanned  this  transition 
from  art  to  science  and  whose  creative  energies  could  be 
turned  to  one  or  the  other  for  the  benefit  of  either. 

There  is  one  idea  which  should  perhaps  lead  all  others  in 
a  consideration  of  the  work  of  Phyfe.  That  is  the  im- 
portance of  the  artistic  tradition  which  he  carried  with  him 
through  his  best  years,  a  tradition  which  his  furniture  ex- 
presses as  perfectly  as  does  the  dignified  architecture  of  the 
early  republic. 

This  artistic  tradition  was  the  heritage  of  the  United 
States  long  before  their  independence  was  achieved.     It 


86 


FURNITURE  MASTERPIECES 


still  remained  their  heritage  for  fifty  years  afterward,  only 
then  to  be  cast  aside.  To  this  tradition  it  would  seem 
logical  to  return  again  if  within  its  limitations  can  be 
properly  comprised  the  requirements,  utilitarian  and  aes- 
thetic, which  the  taste  and  usage  of  modern  times  demand. 
And  for  a  suggestion  of  how  one  skillful  furniture -designer 
and  cabinet-maker  utilized  this  tradition  and  adapted  it 
to  his  own  time,  a  study  of  Phyfe's  handiwork  offers  much 
valuable  help  and  tells  a  tale  of  high  ideals  in  workman- 
ship, of  beauty,  grace,  and  imagination  in  design,  and  of  a 
close  approximation  to  the  requirements  of  usage  as  dictated 
by  social  custom,  elements  which  are  the  essentials  of  all 
utilitarian  art  which  deserves  to  rank  as  handmaid  to  the 
great  art  of  architecture. 


8  JB  5  8       ^^ 


-N^   TRSfTY  O-  CALIFORNIA   ,  .p.^^-, 


ARV 


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